Photo: ROLEX/Kit Houghton.
Beezie Madden (USA) leads the Individual competition
(Caen, France, 4 September 2014) – Netherlands today held onto their overnight lead with a superb display of team riding to win the Gold Medal in Show Jumping at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games 2014 in Normandy. The team of Jeroen Dubbeldam, Maikel van der Vleuten, Jur Vrieling and Gerco Schroder rode consistently well together to beat the home side France into Silver and the United States into Bronze.
In the individual competition, Beezie Madden (USA) has gone into first position, with Rolf-Goran Bengtsson (SWE) now in second and Soren Pedersen (DEN) in third.
Final Results, Show Jumping, Team Competition
Gold: Netherlands (Total Faults 12.83)
Silver: France (14.08)
Bronze: United States (16.72)
4th: Germany (16.82)
5th: Brazil (16.95)
6th: Sweden (20.01)
Current Standings, Individual Show Jumping, after Second Round Team Competition
1. Beezie Madden (USA), Cortes C (Total Faults 0.16)
2. Rolf-Goran Bengtsson (SWE), Casall ASK (0.34)
3. Soren Pedersen (DEN), Tailormade Esperanza de Rebel (3.49)
4. Patrice Delaveau (FRA), Orient Express HDC (4.08)
5. Rodrigo Pessoa (BRA), Status (4.10)
6. Gregory Wathelet (BEL), Conrad de Hus (4.16)
7. Penelope Leprevost (FRA), Flora de Mariposa (4.40)
8. Daniel Deusser (GER), Cornet d’Amour (4.70)
9. Gerco Schroder (NED), Glock’s London NOP (5.29)
10. Christian Ahlmann (GER), Codex One (5.32)
Netherlands Leads the Way with Team Gold
The sun came out and temperatures soared on the deciding day for the Team Show Jumping Competition. But it was the orange glow of the national colours of the Netherlands team that broke the hearts of the French crowd as, despite their passionate support, the Dutch won through to the Gold after a display of stunningly consistent riding.
But it was not all lost for the French, as they repeated their 2010 World Equestrian Games performance and won Team Silver ahead of the USA, who crowned a great outdoor European campaign this summer with a Bronze medal.
Rolex Testimonee Rodrigo Pessoa Continues to Inspire
Rolex Testimonee continues to show that he is the man for the big occasion, with a second clear round in two days on board Status. He is now one of only three riders to have jumped double clear in the Team Competition, which has helped considerably towards his 5th place in the Individual Competition.
Commenting after his round, he said, “I’m really, really happy with how the horse is performing; it’s really sad for the team after all the hard work yesterday to bring us back into contention; we were almost there, but we had two really small faults today which took us away from a team medal, which was really annoying but that’s just the way it is.
“It was a tough course, really fluid and technical with a short time, which pushes you to made high speed corners and faults, but it was a good round and we are now expecting difficult rounds on Saturday.”
Rolex Show Jumping Testimonee Kevin Staut lies in 12th place in the Individual Competition.
Rider Quotes:
Beezie Madden (USA): My horse came through for me fantastically today; we had a couple of light tiffs today but nothing too hard and they all stayed up, so a great team effort. It’s been an amazing atmosphere here and crowds are fantastic; they are educated and all for the home team, which is how it should be, but they also appreciate good sport, so it has been a lot of fun.
Maikel van der Vleuten (NED): It has been very nice to be part of this team at the World Equestrian Games because I am still young and have never rode in Championships like this before. Today I had a very unlucky fault on the last fence, but the result was still important for the team, so that makes it even better. There was a lot of pressure on us; when you wake up and you know you are in the lead and you know there is a big round coming and you want to finish it, and get it done.
Kent Farrington (USA): We’re a little disappointed actually; thrilled that we have a bronze medal but we were only one rail away from a gold medal, and if things had gone our way, it would’ve been the difference between gold and bronze. So, happy with the bronze, but obviously disappointed that we did not win the thing. I put lots of pressure on myself, but at a venue like this, they have great fans and top level sport, some of the best horses and riders in the world. We must give special thanks to the sponsors, Rolex and everybody for putting on one of the best events in the world, and we are all going to put pressure on ourselves at this kind of event.
Kevin Staut (FRA): I am really, really happy, a fantastic moment to spend with my colleagues. We have had some good days on the first days and some bad ones like yesterday; we were fourth before this final round and then it was completely magic on this journey and was really, really amazing to ride in front of all the French people, our owners, our partners and a lot of people from our families supporting us. I have now words to describe what we are feeling now. It’s a Silver medal, but we are so proud of it.
For more information on the 2014 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games and full results, please visit www.normandy2014.com.
Rolex and the World Equestrian Games
Rolex’s association with the World Equestrian Games began in 2002 in Jerez, Spain and the brand is at the forefront of the 2014 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, which takes place between 23 August and 7 September in Caen, France where a record 74 nations intend to take part.
The exceptional bond between Rolex and the World Equestrian Games has no doubt been instrumental in attracting 12 new countries to make their debut this year; a glorious achievement in the development of the sport on a global scale. Across the 15 days, approximately 1,200 media will follow 1,000 competitors as they compete across eight official disciplines including the Olympic sports of Show Jumping, Dressage and Eventing in front of over 500,000 spectators.
Revolution Sports + Entertainment
team@revolutionsports.co.uk
www.revolutionsports.co.uk