Tag Archives: Simone Jäiser

Competitions, FEI, Vaulting

Jäiser, Kaiser, Engelberty and Jacobs Take Titles at FEI World Cup Vaulting Final in Dortmund

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Daniel Kaiser claimed the Male Individual title at the thrilling FEI World Cup™ Vaulting 2015/2016 Final in Dortmund (GER). (FEI/Katja Kaiser)

Dortmund (GER), 6 February 2016 – German vaulters Daniel Kaiser, Pia Engelberty and Torben Jacobs clinched the Male Individual and Pas-de-Deux titles, while Switzerland’s Simone Jäiser brought her brilliant career to a close when soaring to victory in the Female category at the FEI World Cup™ Vaulting 2015/2016 Final in Dortmund (GER) over the weekend.

Kaiser sprang a big surprise when beating fellow-countryman Jannis Drewell in the Male division, but in the other two competitions the favourites won through in fine style. This sixth FEI World Cup™ Vaulting season was packed with fantastic competition, but the Final brought the tension, excitement and degree of excellence to a whole new level, and the event at Dortmund was hailed a huge success.

Female Final

Jäiser threw down the gauntlet in Friday’s first round of the Female Final when coming out on top with a score of 8.602. Germany’s Kristina Boe lined up second on a mark of 8.348 while Austria’s Isabel Fiala finished third on a score of 7.838. Anna Cavallaro was expected to be Jäiser’s strongest opponent, but things didn’t go as planned from the outset for the Italian vaulter when her top horse, Harley, didn’t pass the veterinary inspection. With her replacement horse, Dante, she posted 7.190 for sixth and last place in round one, behind Anne Sophie Musset from France with 7.238, and she couldn’t recover from there.

Switzerland’s Nadja Buttiker didn’t enjoy much luck either when the athlete who finished a creditable fourth in the first competition was dislodged during her second performance because her horse, the aptly-named Keep Cool, decided to stop for a toilet-break. As the eventual winner, Jäiser, pointed out afterwards, however, this is a situation that every vaulter has experienced. “If the horse suddenly goes faster or slower or even moves to the inside, then he’s not under your feet when you are doing your movements and it is impossible to stay on!” she said.

Cavallaro improved her score to post 7.418 but it wouldn’t be nearly enough to make an impression on the final result when all three remaining athletes scored over the 8.0 mark. Fiala really upped her game, putting 8.225 on the board for a performance that was crisp, clean and confident but then Boe piled on the pressure when earned 9.125 from Technical judge Rob de Bruin (NED) which helped secure a second round total of 8.632 and an overall total of 8.490 over the two rounds of competition.

Within her grasp

As Jäiser came into the ring, victory was well within her grasp but she admitted afterwards to feeling extremely nervous. “It was a really big dream for me to finish my career by taking the World Cup title and I knew this was the last time I would run into the arena in a competition. I had to tell myself “go for it” – and in the end it was good!” she said afterwards.

In fact it was near perfection, the 29-year-old vaulter demonstrating that awesome power, control and artistry that earned her both the gold medal at last year’s FEI European Championships in Aachen (GER) and the world number one slot. Her strength in the holding positions, her balance in the jumps and her symmetry with her horse, Luk, and her lunger who is also her mother, Rita Blieske, was stand-out from start to finish. Luk has a reputation for being sensitive and spooky in crowded circumstances but in competition he has a very different attitude. “He gets much more confident when we are in the arena – he knows his job!” the delighted new FEI World Cup™ Vaulting winner said, adding, “I never thought we could have such an amazing year!”

And she is looking forward to working as a coach, now that her competitive career has come to a close.

“I’m already training a junior team – we have nearly 100 members in our vaulting club, with six individuals and three pas-de-deux pairs, juniors and squads so it’s going to be very busy!” Jäiser explained.

Pas-de-Deux

Both the Female and Pas-de-Deux Finals took place on Saturday night, and Engelberty and Torben produced an exemplary performance to seal the latter. Having taken command with a score of 8.763 on Friday, they raised the stakes even higher with scores well in excess of 9 from three of the four judges to post a second-day total of 9.217 and an overall total of 8.990.

As expected their closest rivals were the young Italians, 19-year-old Erika Forti and Lorenzo Lupacchini who turned 20 in January. They scored a highly-competitive 8.183 on Friday and added 8.111 in Saturday’s second round which again earned high artistic marks. Their final total of 8.147 left them 0.843 adrift of the winners, but there is no denying the lightness and fluidity of their work together and this pair look set for extraordinary success in future years.

American sisters, Kimberly and Cassidy Palmer, were thoroughly consistent when scoring 7.916 and 7.708 for a final tally of 7.812 for third place while Germany’s young pair of Jolina Ossenberg-Engels and Timo Gerdes, again just 19 and 20 years of age respectively, look set to follow closely in the footsteps of their more senior stars when also impressively rounding up their scoreline at 7.700 for fourth of the four starting Pas-de-Deux partnerships.

It was an emotional evening for Engelberty who, like Jäiser, has decided to quit while at the top of her game. There was a lot of pressure on this Germany duo. “We knew we should win but the pressure was high because everyone expected we would win. It was never going to be easy; we knew we just had to stay relaxed and to concentrate. We told ourselves, “Okay, we don’t have to do magic, just do it as usual – stay calm – that was our plan and it worked out at the end!” said Engelberty afterwards.

Close to my club

“I have no exact plans for the future,” said the 25-year-old athlete, “but I do know I will stay close to my club. I have been in this club for 16 years and it is part of my life and has given me so many opportunities.”

Engelberty said she was feeling “everything at the same time, sad, happy, really thankful – I know I have so many special moments in my life because of this sport and I’m going to miss it, but I’m happy looking forward. I always said I want to stop before nobody wants to see me anymore!”

Her vaulting partner, Jacobs, said he was also “happy and sad at the same time, so we celebrate our last freestyle together and it’s hard to believe it is coming to an end.” Without Engelberty he has to take a whole new look at his future in the sport, and for now that means he will start with a team for the rest of this year and may find another pas-de-deux partner sometime in the future.

As he pointed out, much of the success he enjoyed with Engelberty, including silver medals at both the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Normandy (FRA) 2014 and at last summer’s FEI European Championships in Aachen (GER) came about due to fantastic choreography allied with the vaulter’s hard work. “We trained together since 2012 and there’s always been a good harmony between us. It’s very important for pas-de-deux to have good artistic skill and choreography. It was our goal for this year to focus more on the music and choreography and it worked well,” he added.

Male Individual

The Male Individual produced the highest drama when firm favourite, Jannis Drewell, was, quite literally, thrown off course in Friday’s first Freestyle. “I made a big mistake at the mount when I lost the grips,” said the 24-year-old who burst to prominence with a spectacular win at last summer’s European Championships. His first-round score of 8.225 on Friday left him chasing Daniel Kaiser, who posted 9.473 to sit in the driving seat going into the second and deciding competition.

Czech Republic’s Lukas Klouda had already scored 8.010 and Switzerland’s Lukas Heppler posted 8.087 before French vaulters Clement Taillez and Vincent Haennel each put 8.317 and 8.479 on the board, but the real action came down to the final two contenders. Knowing that only a disaster could prevent Kaiser from taking the title, Drewell knew he had it all to do today and put in a brilliant performance that earned 8.847 to shoot way into the lead.

But Kaiser really kept his cool, his lovely horse Down Under LR giving him the firmest base on which to display his skills, and when the scoreboard shows 8.697 that was good enough for runner-up spot on the day and the overall Final title. It was a desperately closely-fought affair, however, with only 0.1 points separating the two Germans in the final analysis.

Absolutely amazed

Kaiser said he was “absolutely amazed” by his victory. “Jannis has been so dominant over the last months and even though I knew I would compete on a good level, that fact that I beat him is a small wonder for me! He had a big mistake yesterday which was good for me, but I had two good rounds,” he added. He was performing a new programme based on the theme of the famous escapologist Harry Houdini, so was covered in chains during his performance. “In Leipzig (in January) I felt it was over for the old programme, and after talking with the judges I decided if I wanted to have a chance I needed to do something new,” he explained. “I’ve been working on this new programme now for more than a year,” said the vaulter who was forced to take time out for more than two years due to health problems, but who has bounced back with a vengeance this season.

Today’s victory was all the more special because his wife and family were all there to cheer him on and join in the celebrations. “This is my first international title!” said the delighted athlete who has been competing since he was six years old and who was assisted in his success this weekend by lunger Nina Vorberg, wife of the German national trainer.

Changes

Second-placed Drewell was one of the first to congratulate the new title-holder and talked about some changes he too has planned. “I’m happy and glad today to win the second round and to be able to show my freestyle in a really good way for the last time. I think tomorrow the outfit from Charlie monk will be in wardrobe – I might take it out again for a show or something like but we are already working on a new programme,” he explained.

“Today I was really satisfied because everything worked and my horse was really good. Daniel had the advantage from first round and it is good he won,” said the sporting young German. “He did so much for FEI World Cup Vaulting, he brought a lot of support for this Final and he did not make a mistake on Friday. It’s great for the home crowd to have first and second today, and for me this was special because Dortmund is only one hour from home, so many family and friends and supporters came to see me which was a lot of fun!”

FEI Top Vaulters Awards

In an exciting new initiative, FEI Director of Driving, Reining and Vaulting, Bettina de Rham, presented Top Athletes Awards for Vaulting for the very first time, based on the annual rankings list for this discipline. The first recipient was World No 1, reigning European champion and newly-crowned FEI World Cup™ Vaulting 2015/2016 Female series winner Simone Jäiser, while Drewell was presented with the Top Male Athlete Award as World No. 1 in the Male category.

These awards will be decided on a yearly basis, in this case from January to December 2015, so the Pas-de-Deux award goes to reigning European champions Lukas Wacha and Jasmin Lindner who held the World No. 1 slot at year-end.

Looking back on a fantastic weekend of top sport, Bettina de Rham said, “We want to thank the Organising Committee at Dortmund for putting on such a great show. The spectators and the atmosphere were amazing, and everyone including the vaulters, the horses and the officials were all very happy. I hope we can come back here again next year!”

For further information on the FEI World Cup™ Vaulting Final 2015/2016 in Dortmund, Germany, visit http://www.escon-marketing.de or contact the Press Office at presse@escon-marketing.de, Tel +4473-9411-141.

Detailed results here

FEI YouTube here.

The full list of qualified vaulters, calendar of events, results and standings here.

Series hashtag: #WorldCupVaulting

By Louise Parkes

Media contacts:

At Dortmund:

Press Office
presse@escon-marketing.de
+4473-9411-141

At FEI:

Ruth Grundy
Manager Press Relations
Email: ruth.grundy@fei.org
Tel: +41 787 506 145

Shannon Gibbons
Manager Press Relations
shannon.gibbons@fei.org
+41 78 750 61 46

*Featured/Spotlights, FEI, Vaulting

Drewell Makes It Three-in-a-Row at Leipzig; Jaiser, Engelberty and Jacobs Also Top the Podium

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Germany’s Pia Engelberty and Torben Jacobs were clear winners of the Pas-de Deux competition at the fifth and last qualifying round of the FEI World Cup™ Vaulting 2015/2016 series in Leipzig, Germany. (FEI/Daniel Kaiser)

Leipzig (GER), 16 January 2016 – Reigning European Champion, Jannis Drewell, made it a back-to-back hat-trick of wins when topping the Individual Male competition at the final qualifying leg of the FEI World Cup™ Vaulting 2015/2016 series on home ground in Leipzig, Germany. And Switzerland’s Simone Jäiser also stamped her authority all over the Individual Female category, with big scores securing her third success of the season.

In the Pas-de-Deux, Germany’s Pia Engelberty and Torben Jacobs reigned supreme as today’s top placings reflected precisely those achieved at the penultimate leg at Mechelen in Belgium three weeks ago. The stage is set for a thrilling final, the details of which are expected to be announced during the coming week.

On fire

Jäiser was on fire from the outset, earning a maximum artistic score of 10 from judge at C, Germany’s Jochen Schilffarth, in yesterday’s first round. Technical judges Rob de Bruin from The Netherlands and Germany’s Helma Schwarzmann also awarded impressive marks of 9.222 and 9.388 respectively to put the result beyond doubt. And today the Swiss athlete did it again, posting a mark of 8.871 to leave her on a final tally of 8.947 for a clear victory.

Germany’s Kristina Boe was runner-up on both days, while fellow-countrywoman Corinna Knauf nudged French contender, Marin Mohar, out of third place in the final analysis with a powerful performance this evening. Mohar had to settle for fourth ahead of Austria’s Yvonne Oetti in fifth, while Germany’s Regina Burgmayr filled sixth and last place in the Female category.

Jäiser’s confidence has to be at an all-time high going into the forthcoming final. Runner-up at last year’s finale and with wins at the opening leg of the current series in Madrid (ESP), at Mechelen last month and again today, she is right on top of her game. She has adjusted well to the extension of the time allowed for the FEI World Cup™ Vaulting Freestyle this season. “It has to be 20 seconds longer than for the Europeans, so we have to lengthen our programmes,” she explained. “In the beginning of the winter I felt very confident with the first part of my Freestyle, because that was the same as before and I knew it very well. However, with the additional 20 seconds I felt a bit unsure at first, but now I feel very relaxed and comfortable with the whole programme, and I just enjoy performing it!” she added.

Individual Male competition

Former World and European champion, Switzerland’s Patric Looser, had a busy day today, lunging two of the nine contenders in the Individual Male competition as well as the Pas-de-Deux winners. But it was Simone Drewell, mother of Jannis Drewell who took the sport by storm last summer with his sensational performances at the FEI European Championships in Aachen, Germany who lunged her son to victory in the Individual Male class aboard the family favourite, Diabolus.

The 24-year-old vaulter, who holds the no. 1 spot in his sport’s rankings, produced the only score over 9 in yesterday’s first round in which German riders filled the top four places. Erik Oese lined up second ahead of Daniel Kaiser in third and Viktor Brusewitz in fourth, and although Kaiser was overtaken by Brusewitz in today’s competition he still managed to hold onto third place overall.

Horse scores, as always, were vitally important, and the 14-year-old chestnut gelding, Down Under, was awarded first place in both rounds by judge at A, Germany’s Helma Schwarzmann. Lunged by Andreas Bäßle, the Hannoverian yesterday claimed top marks with Kaiser and was judged second-best during Oese’s runner-up performance, while today the situation was reversed. Drewell’s Diabolus was third-best yesterday and finished fourth today, but his human partner was in a class of his own on both occasions. Drewell’s energy-filled programme earned scores of 9.056, 9.635 and 9.287 for a total of 8.885 today, and that brought his overall total up to a massive 8.969, with Oese finishing on 8.585 and Kaiser taking third with 8.386.

Although his exceptional talent has taken him to the very top, Drewell was quick to attribute much of his success to his mother and his horse. “Diabolus has been with us for eleven years now and he is part of the family – I have worked with him since the very beginning,” the vaulter explained. “And my trainer is my mother and so the three of us know each other very well which surely is part of our success. In Leipzig I had two very good rounds; I absolutely enjoyed myself and now I am very much looking forward to the World Cup final,” said the athlete who also topped the line-up at Salzburg (AUT) and at Mechelen (BEL) last month.

Pas-de-Deux

Any chance Erika di Forti and Lorenzo Lupacchini might have had of overtaking the first-day winners Pia Engelberty and Torben Jacobs in the Pas-de-Deux were dashed when the Italian duo parted company with their horse, Little Louis. Lupacchini and di Forti have a distinctively balletic quality to their work, and their win at Salzburg was a little bit magical. But when they both slipped off while negotiating an early movement, the pair who finished fifth at last summer’s European Championships had to settle for a mark of 7.423, which left them a long way behind the German duo who also recorded an emphatic victory yesterday. The Italian pair made a great recovery, however, to still claim second place overall, and the grace and beauty of their partnership ensures they are a real force to be reckoned with.

There were five pairs in action, and the young French brother and sister, Simon and Lucie Chevrel, continued to show immense promise when lining up fourth overall behind Germany’s Jolina Ossenberg-Engels and Timo Gerdes. But Engelberty and Jacobs nailed the win with relative ease with the help of lunger Patric Looser and their horse, Danny Boy.

Jacobs pointed out that in this sport there is no room for error. “If you want to be successful in Vaulting nowadays you really have to perform your programme – everything has to be perfect: the music, the costumes and the performance itself. I sometimes look for hours, days, maybe even weeks to find the right music and thinking about the costumes. Last year we performed as Tarzan and Jane, but then we wanted to do something else but we wanted to stick to something mystic and a little bit bad!” he said with a laugh, “so we ended up with vampires!”

Engelberty says she is very lucky to have Jacobs as her vaulting partner. “He is very creative; he looks for the music. Of course, we then talk about it, but he invests a lot of time in searching for the right music. And he designs our costumes himself – I only have to say: ‘yes!’ or ‘no!’” she explained.

For further information on the fifth leg of the FEI World Cup™ Vaulting 2015/2016 series in Leipzig, Germany, visit www.engarde.de or contact Press officer Kirsten Meier, presse@engarde.de, +49 4296 748740.

Detailed results here.

The full list of qualified vaulters, calendar of events, results and standings for the FEI World Cup™ Vaulting 2015/2016 are available here.

Check out the schedule of for the FEI World Cup™ Vaulting 2015/2016 season on FEI TV here.

Series hashtag: #WorldCupVaulting

By Louise Parkes

Media contacts:

At Leipzig:

Kirsten Meier
Press Officer
presse@engarde.de
+49 4296 748740

At FEI:

Ruth Grundy
Manager Press Relations
Email: ruth.grundy@fei.org
Tel: +41 787 506 145

Shannon Gibbons
Manager Press Relations
shannon.gibbons@fei.org
+41 78 750 61 46

Competitions, FEI, Vaulting

Jäiser and Kaiser Come Out on Top at Opening Leg in Madrid

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Germany’s Daniel Kaiser partnered a borrowed horse, the 21-year-old Simbal, to clinch victory in the Individual Male category. (FEI/Herve Bonnaud)

Madrid (ESP), 27 November 2015 – Switzerland’s Simone Jäiser and Germany’s Daniel Kaiser got their FEI World Cup™ Vaulting 2015/2016 campaigns off to the perfect start when coming out on top at the opening round of the five-leg series in Madrid, Spain tonight.

All but one of the athletes starting at this first event competed on borrowed horses, with French vaulter, Anne Sophie Musset, the only one to travel with her own trusty steed, Papillon de Laume and lunger Daniele Agnus. But the rest coped remarkably well with unknown horses and lungers, and Jäiser and Kaiser really rose to the challenge to reign supreme in the Individual Female and Male competitions respectively.

Not the smoothest

It was not the smoothest of victories for Jäiser, who had to settle for runner-up spot in yesterday’s first test won by Isabel Fiala. The 22-year-old Austrian, who with her own horse Catman 2 and lunger Christina Stieglitz was a winner at CVI3* in Pezinok, Slovakia in June, scored 8.214 to take pole position with Rubin Royal 20, the 14-year-old gelding that competed for the Spanish Squad at this summer’s FEI European Championships in Aachen, Germany.

Jäiser, individual gold medallist in Aachen, was partnered with the 21-year-old Simbal and lunger Diane Fraser when scoring 7.807 for second place, while Musset lined up third on 6.934 and Austria’s Daniela Fritz, also vaulting with Simbal, finished fourth on a mark of 6.383.

Musset produced tonight’s top mark of 7.995, but Jaiser’s second-place score of 7.978 was good enough to overtake Fiala in the final rankings, the Austrian vaulter’s 7.761 leaving her trailing by 0.387 for third place in the second competition.

“I’m happy!” said Jäiser afterwards, “especially considering I was riding a new horse that I only jumped on one day before the World Cup began! It wasn’t easy for any of us but in the end I had a good feeling” she added. The experienced 29-year-old who hails from Zurich said she “missed some little highlights” in her performance because she felt she didn’t want to take too many risks on a horse she didn’t know, but she was delighted to collect her first points in the series. And she’s now looking ahead to picking up some more, at the third leg of the series in Salzburg, Austria in a week’s time and in Mechelen, Belgium in December.

Contrast

In contrast, Kaiser threw down the winning score last night and returned to top the line-up again this evening for an indisputable victory. In fact all three placings remained the same, with Switzerland’s Lukas Heppler lining up second on both occasions and Italy’s Francesco Bortoletto finishing third.

Kaiser also partnered with the 21-year-old Simbal and lunger Diane Fraser, and although the mark of 6.980 awarded by Austrian judge Anita Flamand Prochaska for his work with the horse was not the highest tonight, the technical marks of 9.266 and 8.593 awarded by Austria’s Elisabeth Mueliner and The Netherlands’ Rob de Bruin and the artistic score of 7.890 from Czech Republic’s Dalibor Blazek reflected a very polished performance.

The 29-year-old German, whose vaulting career has been interrupted by injury, was really pleased with his result. “It’s my first time to compete in the World Cup since the Final in my home town of Leipzig in 2011, so this win is very special for me!” he said. He was very grateful to the people who supplied horses for the competitors, but he wasn’t on completely unknown territory in Madrid.

“I came here to this show last year to give a vaulting demonstration – to come back and win in competition makes me very proud and happy!” he said. Kaiser has been vaulting since he was just six years of age. “This sport is very important in my life, and I really enjoy it as much as ever,” he pointed out. He knew it would be a challenge to compete on an unknown horse, but he was determined to put on his best show for the spectators.

He’s going to be a busy man before the third leg in Salzburg next week because the vaulter is also a professional photographer and will be flying back from a shoot in Dubai in order to compete. “I’m hoping to compete in Mechelen and in Leipzig as well, because I really want to qualify for the final!” he pointed out.

Meanwhile, the second leg of the FEI World Cup™ Vaulting 2015/2016 series kicked off in Paris, France tonight and will conclude tomorrow evening.

For further information on the first leg of the FEI World Cup™ Vaulting 2015/2016 series in Madrid, Spain, go to www.madridhorseweek.com or contact Press Officer Alejandra Cámara, a.camara@madridhorseweek.com, +34 609 915 944. The second leg of the series takes place in Paris this weekend, and for all details of the French fixture, visit http://en.salon-cheval.com/ or contact Press Officer Isabelle Fabre, isabelle.fabre@comexposium.com.

Detailed results here.

The full list of qualified vaulters, calendar of events, results and standings for the FEI World Cup™ Vaulting 2015/2016 are available here.

Check out the schedule of for the FEI World Cup™ Vaulting 2015/2016 season on FEI TV here.

Series hashtag: #WorldCupVaulting

By Louise Parkes

Media contacts:

At Madrid:

Alejandra Cámara
Press Officer
a.camara@madridhorseweek.com
+34 609 915 944

At Paris:

Isabelle Fabre
Press Officer
isabelle.fabre@comexposium.com

At FEI:

Ruth Grundy
Manager Press Relations
Email: ruth.grundy@fei.org
Tel: +41 787 506 145

Shannon Gibbons
Manager Press Relations
shannon.gibbons@fei.org
+41 78 750 61 46

Championships, FEI, FEI, Vaulting

Switzerland’s Jäiser Takes Female Title, Germany Wins Squad

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The reigning world champions from Germany, Team RSV Neuss-Grimlinghausen, clinched European squad gold at the FEI European Vaulting Championships 2015 in Aachen (GER) today. (FEI/Daniel Kaiser)

Aachen (GER), 23 August 2015 – Switzerland’s Simone Jäiser held on to the lead she established in yesterday’s technical test to scoop gold at the FEI European Vaulting Championships 2015 in Aachen, Germany today.

The 28-year-old, who was individual bronze medalist at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™ 2014 in Normandy (FRA), showed great body control and strength in today’s Final freestyle, and couldn’t be overtaken despite a brilliant performance from Germany’s Corinna Knauf who had to settle for silver, while Austria’s Lisa Wild took the bronze.

The atmosphere in Aachen’s Deutsche Bank Arena was at an all-time high, with Vaulting fans getting together on Facebook prior to the event to coordinate their colours. Spectators in the north stand wore black, while those in the east wore red and in the west stand they wore yellow to represent the host nation flag. And it proved well worthwhile when, in a competition filled with dramatic errors but courageous recoveries, Team RSV Neuss-Grimlinghausen took gold for Germany in the hard-fought squad final.

Female final

Jäiser went way out in front in today’s competition, scoring 8.668 for a performance that oozed comfort, confidence and class when 12th to go of the 15 starters. But the 22-year-old German, Corinna Knauf, followed with a routine that placed her first in this fourth and final test. With no mistakes, and movements so smoothly blended, she posted 8.747, which was the best of the day. However, all athletes carried their scores from Thursday’s opening compulsory competition, Friday’s first freestyle and yesterday’s technical test into today’s deciding freestyle, so Knauf’s final tally of 8.280 slotted her in behind her Swiss rival.

Second-last to go, and lying fourth going into this final afternoon, Germany’s Christine Kuhirt made an elegant start to her jazz-themed performance, but struggling with an early off-floor movement and late with her dismount, her score of 8.103 would only be good enough for fifth on the day and left her just off the podium. Now it was all down to Austria’s Lisa Wild who was last to go.

Creating a sensation

The 20-year-old became known as “the backflip queen” after creating a sensation with the dare-devil movement at the FEI World Vaulting Championships in Le Mans, France, three years ago, and was considered a strong contender for the 2015 European title after her victory at the FEI World Cup™ Vaulting Final in February of this year. She is always a big hit with spectators everywhere she goes and, as she entered the arena today with her lunger Nina Rossin and horse Robin, she knew she was still in with a chance of taking the title if she was prepared to take the risk.

She had moved into third with a strong technical test yesterday and was working her way through an impressive routine today until she finally attempted the back-flip exercise, but it didn’t come off. Without enough height she crumpled when landing on Robin’s back, but the crowd appreciated her courage in attempting the movement that would have earned her extra marks for the high degree of difficulty, and the judges rewarded her with 8.452, which brought her closing total to 8.207 and was good enough for the bronze.

Newly-crowned champion Jäiser was thrilled with her result. “I can’t believe that now I am the European champion. It’s a big dream. I hoped it, but I never believed it would happen – it’s fantastic. My performance was good; there were no mistakes, or only a little one that I could make it so that the audience couldn’t see it very well! So I’m very happy!” she said.

Squad finale

It was an even more nail-biting finish in the squad, with nerves and pressure affecting some of the strongest sides, while others really rose to the challenge.

Team Ecurie de la Cigogne went out in front for France, with their flier, Christopher Robin Krause, and their fabulous horse Watriano R reinforcing a tremendously solid team effort that was filled with grace and elegance, ensuring it was a pleasure to watch. The strength of the three-tier movements was particularly impressive, with Krause holding position and presenting the picture of lightness and athleticism. When their score of 8.877 went up on the board, the 14-year-old and his older squad-mates Christelle Haenell, Cleone Fritsch, Clement Taillez, Remy Homberq and Anthony Presle put it right up to the remaining three teams. And one by one, they all felt the pressure.

Austria’s Team Wildegg had three fall errors including two in a triple stance, but they made a strong recovery to post 7.669 considering the extent of their drama. And then the reigning world champions from Germany, Team RSV Neuss-Grimlinghausen, ran into trouble with two dismount falls and another in a triple movement. However, such was the complexity of their programme, that high horse scores and artistic marks earned 8.863 and brought their final scoreline to 8.597. So Pauline Riedl, Julia Dammer, Jannika Derks, Leonie Falkenberg, Mona Pavetic and Johannes Kay could now only be denied the top step of the podium if Switzerland’s Team Lütisburg could produce something very special indeed when last to go. But they were in trouble from the outset with a fall in their very first movement, and another later in their programme. Although Nadja and Martina Buttiker, Ramona Naf, Nathalie Bienz, Raffaela di Maria, and Kyla Seiler finished strongly, their final overall score of 8.104 left them over 4.5 points behind the German champions, but only 0.42 ahead of the bronze medalists from France.

Full results of FEI European Championships Aachen 2015 here.

Facts & Figures:

15 vaulters started in today’s Female Individual Final.

Switzerland’s Simone Jäiser was crowned champion. The 28-year-old athlete took individual bronze at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™ 2014 in Normandy, France.

11 squads representing Austria, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland lined out in the squads Final.

Team RSV Neuss-Grimlinghausen from Germany added the FEI European Vaulting squad title to the gold they won at last year’s Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™ 2014 in Normandy (FRA); the winning team members were Pauline Riedl, Julia Dammer, Jannika Derks, Leonie Falkenberg, Mona Pavetic and Johannes Kay. Their horse was Delia FRH and lunger was Jessica Lichtenberg.

By Louise Parkes

Media Contacts:

At Aachen:

Niels Knippertz
Press Officer
nielsknippertz@chioaachen.de
+49 (0) 241 9171 182

At FEI:

Grania Willis
Director Media Relations
Grania.willis@fei.org
+41 78 750 61 42

Ruth Grundy
Manager Press Relations
Email: ruth.grundy@fei.org
Tel: +41 787 506 145

*Featured/Spotlights, FEI, Vaulting

Simone Jäiser in Leipzig Fast Lane

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Simone Jäiser, Swiss national champion and businesswoman by day, won the last qualifier for the FEI World Cup™ Vaulting in Leipzig (GER), securing her spot at the series Final in Graz (AUT) on 19-22 February 2015. (im|press|ions/Pascal Duran/FEI)

Lausanne (SUI), 20 January 2015 – Switzerland and Germany dominated the fourth and last qualifier of the FEI World Cup™ Vaulting 2014/15 at Leipzig’s famous Partner Pferd (GER) last weekend, with Simone Jäiser (SUI), Thomas Brüsewitz (GER) and pas-de-deux stars Pia Engelberty and Torben Jacobs (GER) celebrating outstanding victories.

A total of 17 athletes from seven countries battled it out in front of a sold out crowd to score vital selection points for the series Final, which takes place in Graz, Austria’s second largest city after the capital Vienna, on 19-22 February.

Jumping Jäiser

Simone Jäiser, the national Swiss champion and businesswoman by day, celebrated her first win of the series in Leipzig, after placing second at the opener in Munich (GER) and third leg in Salzburg (AUT).

The crowd went wild at her interpretation of a Chinese fighter. “I’m a huge fan of Simone Jäiser, but with this freestyle she has really surpassed herself. She was outstanding,” said German television commentator and former lunger Susanne Wahl.

On her horse Luk, lunged by her mother Rita Blieske, Jäiser finished on 9,003 points, the highest score in Leipzig, with a healthy 168-point lead on reigning FEI World Cup™ Vaulting champion Anna Cavallaro (ITA) lunged by Nelson Vidoni on Harley (8,835), with Christine Kuhirt (GER) placing third on Fuzzy with lunger Stefan Lotzmann (8,310).

With the Final in Graz now just less than a month away, Jäiser is now second in the series standings behind Austria’s Lisa Wild. “The first three places at the Final will be very tight. Everyone will be in top condition. I’m aiming to show clear rounds and now I have no doubts that this will be possible,” said the confident Jäiser, after her spectacular winning performance in Leipzig.

German triple

German vaulters, all protégés of national coach Ulla Range, filled the podium in Leipzig led by Thomas Brüsewitz, twice European Junior Champion (2010 and 2011), who scored 8,686 points on the 24-year-old chestnut gelding Airbus, lunged by Irina Lenkeit.

“Leipzig is my absolute favourite leg of the World Cup,” Brüsewitz said after giving the audience a glimpse of his new 2015 routine. “Before the competition I was unsure if I should go ahead with my new elements, but it worked really well!”

Dresden-born Erik Oese, bronze medalist at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™ 2014 (FRA), on Down Under, which he borrowed from fellow Wild Card competitor and close friend Daniel Kaiser, finished just 0,008 points behind Brüsewitz with lunger Andreas Bäßler (8,678), with Kaiser securing third place (8,400).

Tarzan and Jane

Austria’s Stefan Csandl and Theresa Thiel slotted into second place in Leipzig behind Germany’s Pia Engelberty and Torben Jacobs, the pas-de-deux silver medalists at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™ 2014 (FRA). The pair won over the Leipzig crowds with their striking Tarzan and Jane choreography on Danny Boy, lunged by Switzerland’s former world champion Patric Looser, who also won this exciting series twice in a row in 2011 and 2012 before retiring as a vaulter (8,856 points).

Much to the disappointment of this brilliant team, they will unfortunately not be lining up at the series Final next month because the 24-year-old Engelberty has to sit Sports Studies exams at the University of Cologne.

Next stop Graz

FEI World Cup™ Vaulting 2014/2015 has seen the world’s best 30 vaulters from nine nations battle for points across a four-leg European city tour to qualify for the Final next month in Graz.

The top six female and male vaulters, and top four pas-de-deux, based on their best two results in the series, will come together at the “Fest der Pferde” on 19-22 February, where they will all start from scratch.

The full line-up for the FEI World Cup™ Vaulting Final 2014/2015 and live FEI TV schedule will be revealed in the preview for the Final – in the meantime, the qualified vaulters can be viewed here.

Leipzig results:

Male individual: 1. Thomas Brüsewitz (GER), 8,686; 2. Erik Oese (GER), 8,678; 3. Daniel Kaiser (GER), 8,400.
Full results here.

Female individual: 1. Simone Jäiser (SUI), 9,003; 2. Anna Cavallaro (ITA), 8,835; 3. Christine Kuhirt (GER), 8,310
Full results here.

Pas-de-deux: 1. Pia Engelberty/Torben Jacobs (GER), 8,856; 2. Stefan Csandl/Theresa Thiel (AUT), 7,992.
Full results here.

FEI World Cup™ Vaulting series standings

The full series standings will be published here.

Series hashtag: #WorldCupVaulting

By Alexander Bird

FEI Media contacts:

Ruth Grundy
Manager Press Relations
ruth.grundy@fei.org
+41 78 750 61 45

Denise Devillaire
Manager Press Relations
Denise.devillaire@fei.org
+41 78 750 61 57

*Featured/Spotlights, Competitions, Driving, Events, FEI, FEI

Nicolas Andreani and Simone Jäiser Shine in Last Qualifier

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Simone Jäiser and Luk, lunged by Simone’s mother Rita Blieske, won the final FEI World Cup Vaulting qualifier of the season in Bordeaux. © Christophe Bricot/FEI

Lausanne (SUI), 11 February 2013 – World champion and local hero Nicolas Andreani (FRA) and Swiss national champion Simone Jäiser (SUI) were celebrating victories this weekend at the fifth and last leg of the FEI World Cup Vaulting 2012/13 series in Bordeaux (FRA).

French double

Andreani, 28, vaulting on Just A Kiss HN lunged by Marina Joosten Dupon, won on 9,154 points and was in a class of his own in the men’s category.

The French vaulter, who was injured during last year’s Final, commented, “Last year I was in Bordeaux as a commentator for French television and I saw how fascinating Vaulting was for spectators. That made me want to be back at the centre of the ring. It is great to perform in such a large arena in front of so many people.”

This year the freestyle specialist demonstrated the full scope of his talent and scored marks above 9.1 in both rounds, defeating the remaining four male vaulters by a substantial margin.

Continue reading Nicolas Andreani and Simone Jäiser Shine in Last Qualifier →