It was an FEI world championships show jumping team medal finals to make your head spin, with reversals of fortune aplenty during this evening in Herning, Denmark.
But there were two things that didn’t change.
The Olympic champion Swedes, who had taken control of the leaderboard at the Agria title meet from the beginning, refused to give up their claim on the gold medal, though the silver and bronze were up for grabs until the end.
The sign says it all.
And the other thing? U.S. fortunes failed to improve. The country had only two people riding today, going for individual honors, as the team stood 11th yesterday, one place away from qualifying for the medal round.
McLain Ward, who has contributed to so many team medals, bowed out midway through the course after dropping three rails with Contagious. And Brian Moggre, at 21 the youngest competitor in the championships, had to cope when his mount, Balou du Reventon, reared several times approaching the fourth fence, topped by a plank.
Brian didn’t give up and continued the course as his horse shook off the momentary confusion and jumped the rest of the difficult route. He finished 52d in his first world championships.
Brian Moggre and Balou du Reventon. (Photo courtesy U.S. Equestrian)
“I don’t know what he saw,” said Brian of his stallion.
“We came out of the corner and the fences come up fast and something happened. Show jumping is such an unpredictable sport. I think the first three fences, I might have put a little bit too much pressure on him, thinking about the time allowed, and came around to fence four and in that turn, he didn’t like so much pressure, and there was a miscommunication. But after that he just jumped incredible,” Brian continued, unfazed by what happened.
“I’d go as far to say it felt like one of the best rounds he’s ever jumped after that, so I was pleased that he finished well and we had a nice ending to the course and the week.”
McLain acknowledged it was “a rough week, but we will survive.”
He retired with Contagious because “This horse has given so much over the last several seasons in making it to Tokyo last year and pulling off being a part of that (Olympic) medal-winning team, and I said afterwards that was really an incredible feat. After weeks like this, you realize truly how hard it is to win those medals.”
McLain was on the USA’s 2018 world championships team that took gold in Tryon, N.C., as was Adrienne Sternlicht, who rode Cristalline in that competition and also in Herning, where she was 68th and thus not in the top 60 that competed today. The team’s other rider, Lillie Keenan, notched her first senior championships to finish 69th with Argan de Beliard.
“It was a disappointing week of results for sure, and we can’t duck that, but the young riders who were here gained a lot of miles and that will pay back for us down the road,” contended McLain.
U.S. Coach Robert Ridland is in agreement. He always puts younger riders on the team, trying to develop them for the future. But they are usually paired with several more experienced competitors. This time, McLain was the lone ranger in that regard. Horse injuries mandated that the team evolved the way it did.
“The five horse/rider combinations we have here are the best we have. Simple as that,” said Robert. (The fifth horse was Jessica Springsteen’s RMF Zecilie, who was withdrawn after being turned down in the first horse inspection)
“Reality is, as in any sport, the ups and downs of injuries plays a role. We unfortunately had the injury bug early on and lost two of three from our silver medal (Olympic) team (Laura Kraut’s Balontinue and Jessica Springsteen’s Don Juan).
Robert noted those horses sustained relatively minor injuries and both are in work again.
“We’re going to have them back in the fold,” he said.
In the raucous, packed Stutteri Arena, where Swedish fans clad in blue and yellow chanted their support for their team, the U.S was “up against veteran teams,” most particularly Sweden, “our arch rival that we went neck and neck with in Tryon, and neck and neck with in Tokyo,” Robert said.
After chatting with Sweden’s chef d’equpe, Henrik Ankarcrona, he noted, “they did a very good job with their veteran team, keeping intact every horse/rider combination that won gold in Tokyo.”
On the other hand, Henrik told Robert, “You guys have involved the next generation of riders in all your championships over the last 10 years. I’ve got the oldest team in Europe and you have the youngest team. Come Monday, reality sets in.”
Robert mentioned, “That was an interesting perspective. His four riders, the average age is 48-49. Three of our four are in their 20s, have been tested under fire and did a great job here. We didn’t miss by much. We had to be realistic about who we are competing against. The depth and quality of the top 10 teams are something like I’ve never seen before.”
The golden oldies Swedish team collected a total of a mere 7.69 penalties, though Peder Fredricson, the man who is usually rock solid, wound up as the drop score today with the generally reliable H&M All In. But no matter. The Swedes were miles ahead of the Dutch, who claimed silver as anchor Harrie Smolders put in a clear round with Monaco N.O.P. to make the team’s total 19.31.
Great Britain’s anchor Scott Brash dropped an uncharacteristic two rails with Hello Jefferson. However Harry Charles, who had two knockdowns yesterday, came back on Romeo 88 with the squad’s only clear trip of the day, making the team total 22.66 to stay ahead of Ireland (23.15) and earn its first world championships medal in 24 years. Those four teams and fifth-place Germany are now qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics, which had been the USA’s goal, though there is still time to achieve that in other competitions. France, which was sixth, is automatically qualified for its home Games.
World Number One Henrik von Eckermann of Sweden on the aptly named King Edward at the weird wall. (Photo courtesy Herning 2022)
Peder proudly pointed out that his older brother, Jens, was also on the squad.
“It’s our first championship together, I think we’re going to keep doing a few more. It was a good start,” Peder said with a grin. Jens, it should be mentioned, was fault-free. Actually, he was also fault-free yesterday, as was teammate Henrik von Eckermann. Sweden was the only team to have riders fault-free on both days.
Dutch course designer Louis Konickx outdid himself with a course that twisted and turned in a serpentine pattern, requiring the utmost focus from the riders and their horses.
It had a green theme (sustainability is a big deal for these games) with a weird wingless wall as the second fence showing off a green map of the world. The standards of the final obstacle depicted wind turbines. In between were other challenges, including a vertical that stood 1.65 meters over a liverpool.
But the piece de resistance was the 13th of 14 fences, a triple combination of red rails comprising a vertical two strides from another vertical, which was one stride from an oxer, and six strides from the final fence. Few competitors came away unscathed, whether they toppled a rail or exceeded the 83-second time allowed in the process of completing the route.
Among those who had problems there was French rider Julien Epaillard, who has a reputation for speed He had no time penalties, but his mount, Caracole de la Roque, toppled both the A and B elements of the triple. That also toppled Julien from the top of the standings, where he had been situated through two rounds, putting him down to 12th on 8 penalties.
Julien was replaced in the number one spot by the world’s number one rider, Henrik von Eckermann on King Edward.
Henrik noted the arena was “more hectic today.” That affected his horse.
“The applause and the light when entering made him turn”
He added “I was really lucky on the triple” when he brushed the B element and it didn’t fall down. The World Championship is difficult, but my horse is really great.”
The world championships medalists on the podium from left: the Dutch silver medal team, the gold medal Swedish team and the bronze medal British team. (Photo courtesy FEI)
The individual final will be held on Sunday, with the top 25 competing.
Henrik has 0.58 penalties as teammate Jens Pederson stands second with Markan Cosmopolit on 2.71, followed by Belgium’s Jerome Guery on Quel Homme de Hus (3.35), world number two Markus Fuchs of Switzerland with Leone Jei (4.36), Max Kuhner, Austria, Electric Blue (4.49) and Israel’s Daniel Bluman, Ladriano Z (5.14).
Canada, which finished 10th, has one rider going Sunday. That’s Tiffany Foster with Figor, who stands 15th.
New coach Eric Lamaze the 2008 Olympic individual gold medalist, stated, “I take full responsibility for my riders not being on top of their game. They got out-ridden. Not necessarily in the skill department, but in the international mileage department. It’s not easy to jump three days in a row. They rode their hearts out yesterday and they needed to do that again today.
Tiffany Foster and Figor. (Photo by Arnd Bronkhorst)
“We started off well and our plan was good – our second day proves that – but they didn’t finish the job. That’s why we need to be in Europe as much as we can, to help them learn how to ride in a tough second round.
“We need to work on the mental part of the game. We got to the second round and some people might call that a win but that’s not what I’m about and this was not a way to finish a championship. If you get that close, you don’t let it slip away.”
Click here to see the individual standings. Click on this link to see the team medals.