A DOUBLE GOLD FOR BELGIUM AND ITALY AS NEXT GENERATION TAKES CENTRE STAGE by Louise Parkes
Lausanne (SUI), 11 JULY 2011 – Rising stars, and many with familiar names, shone brightly at the FEI European Jumping Championships for Children, Juniors and Young Riders 2011 staged in Comporta (POR) over the weekend. Nicola and Olivier Philippaerts, twin sons of long-time Belgian senior team rider Ludo Philippaerts, were members of the victorious Belgian Young Rider side, and 18 year Nicola also took the individual Young Rider title. Meanwhile Virginia Caruso confirmed the competitiveness of Italian jumping right now when helping to scoop Junior team gold before also taking the individual honours yesterday.
Ireland clinched the first gold medals on offer in Saturday’s Children’s Team decider. But it was Lisa Nooren, daughter of world-famous coach Henk Nooren who is currently managing the French senior team, who came out on top in the Children’s individual competition the result of which, like so many of the other classes at these championships, had to be decided by a jump-off. The quality of competition was extraordinary, with the top four riders producing flawless performances over five tough rounds, but Nooren and the 10 year old Dutch-bred Ubalia produced a superior turn of foot against the clock that left them with an advantage of more than 2.5 seconds over silver medallist Paul Delforge (Kaloubet d’Toureelle) from France, while Belgium’s Maxine de Pelsmaeker (Whippersnapper) claimed the bronze. Hungary’s Zoltan Lazar Jr (Afrodite) finished just outside the medal placings when second-quickest across the line, but with a single fence on the floor this time out.
Individual Children’s Champion Nooren said her victory was a family effort. “It is a great privilege to have a father like mine. He cannot often be at the competitions with me, so my mother coaches me, but at home the three of us work together as a group,” she explained.
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