Tag Archives: FEI European Vaulting Championships

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, Championships, FEI, Vaulting

German Clean Sweep in Male Individual Final, Austrians Dominate in Pas de Deux

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The reigning world and defending European champions, Jasmin Lindner and Lukas Wacha from Austria, clinched the Pas de Deux title once again the FEI European Vaulting Championships 2015 in Aachen, Germany today. (FEI/Dirk Caremans)

Aachen (GER), 22 August 2015 – Host nation athletes dominated the Individual Male Final while Austria claimed both gold and bronze in the Pas de Deux at the FEI European Vaulting Championships 2015 in Aachen (GER) today. Over 5,000 spectators roared with delight as relative newcomer, Jannis Drewell, pinned fellow-Germans Thomas and Viktor Brusewitz in silver and bronze when producing a stunning final Male Freestyle test.

But there was no big surprise when the reigning world and defending European champions, Austria’s Jasmin Lindner and Lukas Wacha, came out on top in the Pas de Deux.

Pas de Deux

The nine pairs in the Pas de Deux were representing seven countries, and former Vaulting superstar, Joanne Eccles, was lunger for the British pair who was first into the arena this afternoon. Eccles, who claimed Pas de Deux and individual gold at last year’s Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™ in Normandy, France didn’t put herself forward for individual selection for the 2015 Championships, but she has been training Andre McLachlan and Rebecca Norval and their equally inexperienced horse, Norval, who got the competition underway with a score of 5.459.

Hungary’s Reka Gadolla and Reka Csordas upped the target when posting 6.806 before Switzerland’s Zoe Maruccio and Syra Schmid moved out in front when putting 7.171 on the board. Dutch sisters, Carola and Esther Sneekes were awarded 6.690 by judges Jochen Schilffarth (GER), Veronique Girard (FRA), Gaby Benz (ITA), Pavla Krauspe (SVK), Doris Knotter (AUT) and Monika Eriksson (SWE) before Switzerland’s Evelyn Freund and Stefanie Millinger set the arena alight with a great test that put them way ahead on a mark of 8.672.

Their powerfully-built horse, Robin, supported their adventurous programme that drew gasps of delight from the spectators and a strong technical mark of 9.005 from the judging panel. But the Swiss pair were immediately overtaken by Germany’s Pia Engelberty and Torben Jacobs. Lunged by former champion Patric Looser, the duo forged another new lead when earning 8.725.

Extremely polished pair

Jasmin Lindner and Lukas Wacha are an extremely polished pair, however, and with their eye-catching 1.90-metre-tall gelding Bram they were always favourites to take the title. Once again they combined power, balance and seamless transitions throughout their two-minute programme, and when 8.990 went up in lights there was no question about the destination of the gold medals. The last pair, Germany’s Gera-Marie Grun and Just Van Gerven finished just off the podium when slotting into fourth with a score of 8.469.

With today’s results added to those from yesterday, Lindner and Wacha completed on a final tally of 8.853 for gold while Engelberty and Jacobs rounded their score up to 8.725 for silver and Freund and Millinger took the bronze with 8.557.

“I’m very happy; it’s a super feeling to be here with so many spectators applauding. I can’t describe it!” Lindner said this evening. And silver medallist Torben Jacobs was also delighted with his result. “We wanted to show a Freestyle with a lot of expression. These were two good days for us,” the German vaulter said.

Male Individual

It was a close-fought all-German affair in the battle for the Male Individual title, with Thomas Brusewitz pinning the eventual champion Jannis Drewell into runner-up spot in this morning’s Technical test in which Viktor Brusewitz lined up in third.

Hungary’s Balazs Bence set the target in this afternoon’s finale to decide the medal placings, scoring 7.808 with his Aladdin-themed programme when seventh to go of the 15 starters. And then Clement Taillez went out in front on 8.052 before fellow-Frenchman Vincent Haennel’s brillliant dismount from Quartz d’Olbiche helped him establish the short-term advantage when awarded 8.133.

Thomas Brusewitz’s tiger-stripe costume has been attracting plenty of attention and, even with an early mistake, the younger of the Brusewitz brothers went well ahead with 8.563 for his performance. But older brother Viktor presented a routine that was all drama from start to finish. Together with his imposing horse, Rockard, and lunger Winnie Schluter, he brought the crowd to their feet when a mark of 8.563 went up on the board. But the excitement wasn’t over yet.

Electricity in the air

There was real electricity in the air as Jannis Drewell and his grey horse, Diabolus, began the final test of the competition. The 24-year-old has made a big impact this season, but in his very first Championships it was difficult to know what to expect from him. He has risen to the challenge with incredible ease, however, and having been highly competitive all week, he just blew all the rest away with a spell-binding final performance today.

In his costume, representing a monk in orange robes, and with his musical score from Kung Fu Panda, he showed extraordinary suspension and amazing speed, even managing to include some kick-boxing as he racked up big scores. He clearly knew he’d done something special despite a relatively cautious final dismount, and he burst into tears when he heard he had been awarded 8.732. Combined with his results from the Compulsory and Technical tests along with his first Freestyle, he was left on the winning total of 8.369, ahead of Thomas Brusewitz with 8.343 and Viktor Brusewitz, whose score rounded up to 8.157.

Chose themselves

German team coach, Kai Vorberg, talked about his athletes who proved untouchable for the medals today. “We have a lot of strong vaulters, at least five or six who could go to the Championships, but these guys chose themselves. It was very close (for selection). It’s not hard to coach these guys; the main thing is that they act as a team. We didn’t know who would be the winner, but they worked really well together and it has been really special.”

Silver medallist Thomas Brusewitz said: “It’s been like a dream competing in this crazy event in Aachen, to run into this great arena was amazing! We all pushed each other to reach our goals and together we produced great sport this week!”

For more information on the FEI European Championships 2015 in Aachen. visit www.aachen2015.de.

Full results of FEI European Championships Aachen 2015 here.

Facts and Figures:

9 pairs representing seven countries – Austria, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands and Switzerland – battled it out in today’s Pas de Deux Final at the FEI European Vaulting Championships 2015 in Aachen, Germany.

130 athletes from 15 nations have been competing for individual, pas-de-deux and squad medals over the last three days.

47 vaulters targeting the male and female individual medals, 18 went for gold in pas-de-deux and a massive 66 athletes competing in squad.

Austria’s Jasmin Lindner and Lukas Wacha, the current world and European Pas de Deux champions, re-claimed the European title.

15 vaulters from nine countries – Austria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, Slovakia and Switzerland – competed in the Male Freestyle Final.

A new Male champion was crowned when 24-year-old Jannis Drewell from Germany claimed the individual title.

German brothers Thomas and Viktor Brusewitz also claimed silver and bronze.

Quotes:

German coach Ulla Ramge, when asked about having three German vaulters on the podium: “I hoped for it! It was always possible because these guys showed that they could win. They all competed in four rounds of competition here and they needed to keep their concentration over the four rounds, but they produced the right performances at the right time, so it happened!”

Viktor Brusewitz GER, Individual Male bronze: “I made mistakes in the Kur, but I tried today to fight back and it worked!”

Ulla Ramge, talking about the new moves introduced in the Technical test: “There was an FEI Seminar in the spring and it was a matter of practice. There are two different, new exercises – some like the old moves and some like the new ones. We had no big problem with it.

“The two moves are a jump from kneeling forward to standing backwards – this is a great challenge for the balance – and the needle move. It’s really more of a challenge for the boys, but they did well.”

FEI YouTube

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

Europe’s Best Vaulters Head to Aachen in Search of Gold

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Austria’s Jasmin Lindner and Lukas Wacha, the current world and European champions, with their striking 1.90-metre tall gelding Bram, will be targeting pas-de-deux gold at the FEI European Vaulting Championships 2015 in Aachen (GER), which start on Saturday, 22 August. (FEI/Daniel Kaiser)

Aachen (GER), 18 August 2015 – The Vaulting world’s eyes are now all on Aachen (GER), where over 130 athletes from 15 nations will battle it out for individual, pas-de-deux and squad medals at the FEI European Vaulting Championships 2015 starting on 20 August.

Spectators at Aachen’s Deutsche Bank Stadium will be treated to a four-day feast of top class vaulting, with 47 vaulters targeting the male and female individual medals, 18 going for gold in pas-de-deux and a massive 66 athletes competing in squad.

Heat is on

The German squad vaulters are reigning European champions and since the first FEI European Vaulting Championships were held in 1984 in Ebreichsdorf (AUT) they have taken the title a record seven times, with Switzerland its nearest rival with five squad wins.

Now on home soil, the German squad is understandably confident. “Aachen is like our personal living room,” explains Germany’s squad trainer and lunger Jessica Lichtenberg.

“Our vaulters are based just 75 kilometres away, and our club – Team Neuss – has won an international title non-stop for the last nine years. Of course we can only focus on our own performance and power on the day, but I think we have it in our hands.”

Social media phenomenon

The video of Team Neuss’ striking performance in Verden (GER), where they qualified for Aachen, went viral on Facebook with over 2.3 million views and thousands of comments from international Vaulting fans – see the video here: http://on.fb.me/1JcM51b.

Vaulting on the FEI’s own YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/user/feichannel) has also been phenomenally successful, so much so that the FEI chose to livestream and run re-live, or playback, videos from the very first FEI World Vaulting Championships for Juniors at Ermelo (NED) earlier this month, attracting thousands of daily views.

“Our vaulters are the secret online stars in equestrian sports,” Lichtenberg says.

In response to this growing social media phenomenon, the FEI European Vaulting Championships 2015 will be serialised on the FEI’s social channels using the #Aachen2015 hashtag, and Aachen spectators are being urged to share and tag their favourite vaulting stars on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

New European champions

The door has been left wide open for new European individual vaulting champions to be crowned in Aachen, following the retirements of the current champions Joanne Eccles (GBR) and Jacques Ferrari (FRA), and France’s vaulting icon and former world champion Nicolas Andreani.

France’s Vincent Haennel and Clement Taillez have had a strong season so far, as have Germany’s vaulting brothers Viktor and Thomas Brüsewitz, and FEI World Cup™ Vaulting star Lukas Klouda (CZE). Austria’s Ramin Simon Rahimi, the 2013 FEI European Vaulting Junior champion, and the current European Junior champion, Hungary’s Balázs Bence, are also expected to pose a major challenge in Aachen.

In the female individual competition, vaulting experts are predicting a duel between Italy’s Anna Cavallaro, FEI World Cup™ Vaulting champion in 2013 and 2014 and silver medallist at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™ 2014 in Normandy, and Switzerland’s Simone Jäiser, who scored bronze at these same Games and is currently at the top of the FEI World Vaulting Rankings.

Germany’s Lisa Wild, who made headlines at the FEI World Vaulting Championships in Le Mans (FRA) in 2012 back-flipping off her horse – which earned her the nickname “backflip queen” – is also a very strong contender for the European title after winning her first FEI World Cup™ Vaulting Final in February.

Pas-de-Deux

A total of nine pas-de-deux will target medals in Aachen.

Austria’s Jasmin Lindner and Lukas Wacha, the current world and European champions, with their striking 1.90-metre tall gelding Bram, are the big favourites.

Germany’s Pia Engelberty and Torben Jacobs, who are trained and lunged by former World Champion Patric Looser (SUI), have been beaten several times by the Austrian pair, but have had a strong season so far with their daring and edgy vampire themed routine, and intend to go all out in Aachen.

Medal days

The first FEI European Vaulting Championships medals will be awarded on Saturday 22 August. The pas-de-deux will kick off at 15.30 CEST, followed by the male individuals at 16.25. The female European champion will be crowned on Sunday 23 August, with the competition starting at 11.15 CEST, and the squad competition starts at 13.10 CEST.

By Daniel Kaiser

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, Championships, FEI, Vaulting

Austria Tops Medal Table at FEI European Vaulting Championships 2013

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France’s Jacques Ferrari on Poivre Vert with lunger François Athimon strike gold at the FEI European Vaulting Championships 2013 – their first European Championships. (Photos: Daniel Kaiser/FEI).

Lausanne (SUI), 7 August 2013 – Host nation Austria topped the medal table for the Senior and Junior competitions at the FEI European Vaulting Championships 2013 on 1-4 August 2013 with four gold, two silver and two bronze medals.

Competing in front of sell-out crowds in the Magna Racino horse park, Germany came in second with two golds, three silvers and two bronze medals, followed by Great Britain with two silver and two bronze.

Vaulting goes back to its roots

A total of 215 athletes, 60 lungers and 105 horses from 17 nations competed over five demanding days in the Lower Austrian town of Ebreichsdorf, which in 1984 played host to the first FEI European Vaulting Championships, just one year after Vaulting became an FEI discipline.

Go Team

Germany, the reigning European Champions, dominated the Squad competitions, taking Senior and Junior golds.

Germany’s Senior Squad finished on 8,291 points, with Austria clinching silver on 8,164 points and France taking bronze with 7,949 points.

Germany’s Junior Squad powerhouse of Simone Lang-Wiegele – who won the first FEI World Cup Vaulting Final in 2010 – and Antje Hill secured gold on 7,876 points, with Austria hot on their heels on 7,831 points followed by Italy taking bronze with 7,544 points.

“It’s getting harder every year to win at the FEI European Vaulting Championships, as more and more nations climb up through the ranks – this is a great sign for the sport,” said German Chef d’Equipe Ulla Ramge.

Austria’s Pas-de-Deux victory

Lukas Wacha and Jasmin Lindner from Austria’s Tyrol region, performing on Elliot with lunger Klaus Haidacher, took Senior Pas-de-Deux gold again at this year’s Championships.

To Gotye’s “Heart’s a Mess”, from the soundtrack of the new big screen adaptation of The Great Gatsby, the pair finished on 8,605 points, thanks to a brand new move that saw Lindner perform a dramatic handstand on Wacha’s shoulders for over three strides. “We wanted to show something new for the Europeans in our home country,” said an ecstatic Wacha.

Joanne and Hannah Eccles’ legendary sister act on WH Bentley with their lunger and father John finished on 8,123 points taking silver, and Germany’s Pia Engelberty and Torben Jacobs claimed bronze on Weltoni RS von der Wintermühle, lunged by Alexandra Knauf, with 7,914 points.

The Austrian duo Heike Hulla and Sandrine Flicker, both 15 years old and training together at the Club VG Styria, captivated the crowds on Le Grand Chevalier, lunged by coach Eva Maria Kreiner, securing Junior Pas-de-Deux gold with 7,809 points.

Last year’s Junior Pas-de-Deux winners Rebecca Norval and Andrew McLachlan from Great Britain, on Tylers Kernal and lunged by John Eccles, took silver with 7,648 points, and Germany’s Justin van Gerven and Gera Marie Grün, silver medallists last year, claimed bronze on 7,631 points with Weltoni RS von der Wintermühle and lunger Alexandra Knauf.

Laumann and Ferrari – new Senior European Champions

Denmark’s Rikke Laumann, who at 30 years old was the oldest female Senior competitor, stormed to victory in the Individual competition with a total score of 8,307 points after putting in four almost perfect, clear rounds with Ghost Alfarvad Z and lunger Lasse Kristensen.

Rikke Laumann (DEN), female Senior Individual gold medalist at the FEI European Championships 2013, is pictured here on Ghost Alfarvad Z lunged by Lasse Kristensen in the Magna Racino arena
Rikke Laumann (DEN), female Senior Individual gold medalist at the FEI European Championships 2013, is pictured here on Ghost Alfarvad Z lunged by Lasse Kristensen in the Magna Racino arena

In 1999, Laumann participated in her first FEI European Vaulting Championships, and between 2002-2005 she successively collected Individual silver medals, followed by bronze medals in 2009 and 2011, and another silver in 2012. “I still can’t believe it – it is an amazing feeling to reach this goal after such a long time and hard work,” Laumann said.

FEI World Cup Vaulting 2012 winner Anna Cavallaro (ITA) on Harley, lunged by Nelson Vidoni, took home silver with 8,294 points, and Joanne Eccles – who has won every FEI European Vaulting Championships since 2009 – secured bronze with WH Bentley and lunger John Eccles on 8,089 points.

With Laumann finding it hard to fight back the tears of joy on the podium, Eccles was the first to celebrate her victory. “Congratulations to Rikke – she had the best competition!” she said.

The male Individual competition took a dramatic turn, when world champion Nicolas Andreani (FRA) fell during his freestyle performance, relegating him to fifth place.

France’s Jacques Ferrari on Poivre Vert with lunger François Athimonn, who had already shown he was one to beat in the days leading up to the deciding freestyle test, stole the male Senior Individual show, securing gold at his first FEI European Vaulting Championships.

Dressed in white and gold, Ferrari interpreted the life of Lucifer in a stylish and mysterious freestyle performance. “I’m so happy, but the medal is not everything. I want to inspire the audience with my performances. For me, vaulting is not only gymnastics, it’s much more artistic,” he said.

Germany’s 25-year-old Erik Oese on Calvador 5 with lunger Andreas Bäßler finished on silver with 8,230 points following his stirring performance to music by Prince, while Stefan Csandl from Vienna – who competed at the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Kentucky and at the FEI European Vaulting Championships in 2011 and 2012 – was delighted to reach the podium for the first time in his career, securing bronze with 7,966 points.

Austria does it again – Junior individual sensations

Austria’s 17-year-old Daniela Fritz on Royal Salut with lunger Manuala Barosch demonstrated her tremendous power and elegance to clinch Junior individual gold on 8,081 points.

Germany’s Miriam Esch on Robbie Naish with lunger Annette Müller-Kaler claimed silver with 7,890 points, and last year’s champion Anais Kristofics-Binder on Alonso with lunger Fritz Schandl took Junior individual bronze on 7,681 points.

The 17-year-old Ramin Simon Rahimi from Vienna successfully defended his Junior title, despite sustaining a shoulder injury earlier this year. On Royal Salut, and with his coach and lunger Manuela Barosch he finished on 7,985 points to secure gold.

Germany’s Julian Wilfling, competing is his first Championships on Luino, lunged by Alexander Zebrak, was delighted with silver (7,661 points) and bronze went to Great Britain’s Andrew McLachlan on Tylers Kernal with lunger John Eccles (7,551 points).

Austria’s Chef d’Equipe Manfred Rebel was ecstatic at his team’s medal haul at this year’s Championships. “I was confident we’d go home with five medals – but to get eight, with four golds, is incredible. Our vaulters have exceeded all expectations, and they really blossomed in front of their home crowd.”

Christian Kermer, President of the Organising Committee, was also thrilled: “We must extend our thanks to our 100 volunteers, who have helped to make this happen, and to the judges and coaches. Everything worked so well with such a huge number of vaulters and horses at this year’s Championships.”

Results:

The full results for the FEI European Vaulting Championships 2013 can be viewed here.

Videos:

Videos of the FEI European Vaulting Championships 2013 performances are available on the FEI’s YouTube channel to view and share: www.youtube.com/user/feichannel/videos.

By Daniel Kaiser

FEI Media contacts:

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

Malina Gueorguiev
Manager Media Relations
malina.gueorguiev@fei.org
+41 78 750 61 33