On Sunday morning we started a full day of technical tests here in Herning. In the afternoon it was time for the first round of the Pas de Deux freestyles. Here is an overview of the results and some impressions of the ECCO FEI World Championships. 

The day started with the Individual Female Technical Tests. Overall we have seen very solid performances and a higher quality in exercises compared to other years and competitions.  

Averill Saunders from Canada was definitely the rising star of this competition with great potential and an amazing clean tech test with her 18 years coming from Junior. She jumped from rank 9 after compulsories to rank 4 after the technical test with a final score of 8.198 for the first round.

Kimberly Palmer from the USA seemed to be happy with her tech test on the Italian horse Rosenstolz together with Laura Carnabuci on the lunge. 

In contrast, Eva Nagiller from Austria had bad luck with her horse Lavalino, who didn’t feel comfortable in the arena from the beginning of the test on. Vaulting World and the whole audience felt with her. This reminds us that our partner, the horse, is and remains an important component without which nothing works. But this is what makes our sport unique!

Kathrin Meyer from Germany who ranked on the fifth place after compulsories showed a stunning performance moving up to rank 3 with a score of 8.265 after the technical test.

The Danish vaulter Sheena Bendixen showed a flawless performance but had an unhappy fall and grabbed in the sand after the dismount. Fortunately, she could take it with humour and she was able to laugh about it. She fell back to the fifth place.

Julia Sophie Wagner from Germany had a super clear round and seemed to be very happy with it. She was able to move up from the 3rd place to the 2nd place with a total score of 8.310 for the 1st round.

Alina Roß, also from Germany, ranked on the 2nd place yesterday but lost a few places. Her horse was a bit unregular and fast, which made it difficult for her to perform and she had an unhappy fall after her dismount. She finished the round on the 11th place.

The French kept the lead: Manon Moutinho was already after the compulsories in the lead. With an amazing technical test she could even extend her lead with distance and is on the way to win this year’s championships with a score of 8.630 for the first round.

Find the detailed results here.

We continued our day with the Individual Male Technical Tests with a promising starting field. What a tough competition!  

We have seen 8 competitors out of 17 with a score of over 8 points. 7 competitors scored over 8.5 in the technical test and 5 competitors ended up with a score of 8.5 – it was incredibly close! 

Those competitors came from Italy, Germany, the Netherlands and France.

Unfortunately, the Italian Giovanni Bertolaso had a problem with his horse Dante during the warm up and had to withdraw from the further competition.

Lorenzo Lupacchini had some slight insecurities but did a good job, which put him on the 7th place with an overall score of 8.533.

Thomas Brüsewitz also did a very good job, but couldn’t get closer to the top 3 after placing 4th the day before. He ended up on the 6th place with a score of 8.549 for the first round.

Jannik Heiland showed a top performance for Germany and was able to move up from the 7th place to the 5th place with a score of 8.565.

Julian Wilfling performed a super clear technical test as an Egyptian and seemed to be very happy with it. The German ended up on the 4th place with a score of 8.577.

On the third place remained the talented Dutch vaulter Sam Dos Santos with a fantastic technical test and a final score of 8.585.

Then it was time for the French guys who had already shown that they were going for gold!

With some distance to the first place, Quentin Jabet scored a 8.642 for the first round with a stunning performance on his horse Ronaldo lunged by Adda Boe.

Lambert Leclezio remained unchallenged on the first place, despite some insecurities in the backwards stand, with an incredible score of 9.231 for the first round composed of compulsories and technical test.

Might tomorrow’s freestyle give the current standings a turn? We’ll see 😉

In the evening it was time for the first Pas de Deux freestyle of the ECCO FEI World Championships. The round was dominated by the German pairs followed by the Italians and Austria. With only seven Pas de Deuxs the field was quite small, but we have seen top performances.

In the lead after the first round are the Germans Chiara Congia & Justin van Gerven with a score of 8.863 and their freestyle theme “Black Magic Woman”.

Diana Harwardt & Peter Künne performed a modern dance to the song „Ain‘t No Sunshine“ and achieved a score of 8.625, also for Germany.

They are currently followed by Rebecca Greggio & Davide Zanella from Italy with their House of Gucci freestyle and the Austrian pair Theresa Thiel & Dominik Eder showing a Grease freestyle.

The second round will take place on Wednesday and we are eager to see who will take the gold medal in the Pas de Deux competition.

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