For Immediate Release

 

TRYON, NC, USA – September 18, 2018 – Denmark’s Stinna Tange Kaastrup won her first world gold medal as Adequan® Para-Dressage began in exciting fashion at the FEI World Equestrian Games™ Tryon 2018, hosted in Tryon Stadium at Tryon International Equestrian Center (TIEC).

The 24-year-old European champion, who was born without legs, continued a memorable year by taking Grade II Individual honors ahead of prolific medal-winning Austrian Pepo Puch.

Kaastrup, riding 17-year-old Horsebo Smarties, posted a score of 72.735%, and Puch – the last of nine competitors – fell just short aboard Sailor’s Blue on 72.676%, with Netherlands challenger Nicole den Dulk and Wallace N.O.P. finishing third, just under two percent behind Puch.

There was disappointment for Great Britain’s Sir Lee Pearson, though, who needs one more medal to become the most decorated Para-Dressage rider in FEI World Equestrian Games™ history, as he retired his new ride, nine-year-old mare Styletta, two-thirds of the way through his test.

Kaastrup said, “I was upset because of a mistake I made because the horse was feeling amazing and doing such a wonderful job, but still it was enough [to medal] and it didn’t matter in the end. I was so nervous looking at the scores as it was so close all the way through, and I wondered if we were going to make it. My horse is really enjoying it, and as soon as we got into the arena his ears were like ‘hey, I’m here, is everyone watching me’? He is a darling.”

The Adequan® Para-Dressage program began with a thrilling Grade IV competition that saw the three medallists separated by just 0.781%, with the Netherlands’ Sanne Voets taking gold.

Voets and Demantur N.O.P. ©Sportfot

Voets, who won a freestyle Gold and two Silvers at the last FEI World Equestrian Games™ in France four years ago, led from a number one draw on Demantur N.O.P. as their score of 73.927% edged out Brazil’s Rodolpho Riskalla and Don Henrico (73.366%), with Danish rider Susanne Jensby Sunesen third aboard CSK’s Que Faire (73.146%).

Riskalla and Don Henrico ©Sportfot

“Nobody wants to be the first to go, but it doesn’t change the job,” Voets said. “You just have to do what you do and do it best. I think we smashed it.”

Riskalla’s life was turned upside down in 2015 when he contracted bacterial meningitis on a trip home to Brazil from his Paris base following the death of his father, and he had to have both legs amputated below the knee, in addition to losing his right hand and two fingers on his left hand.

Reflecting on his test, Riskalla said, “It was super. His style sometimes can be super-sensitive, but he performed just like he was at home.”

Grade V action concluded the opening day, and there was a victory for Britain’s Sophie Wells, riding C Fatal Attraction.

As with Voets, 28-year-old Wells went first in her class, and she delivered a commanding performance to finish on 75.429%, beating the Netherlands’ Frank Hosmar and Alphaville N.O.P. on 73.167%, with the bronze medal going to Belgium’s Regine Mispelkamp and Look At Me Now on 71.452%.

Wells, a mainstay of Britain’s dominant Para-Dressage team, won the world individual title at Kentucky in 2010, and three medals at the 2014 Normandy FEI World Equestrian Games™ including team gold.

“I am really pleased,” she said. “I had a little bit of a blip at the beginning where he was just a bit nervous, but compared to last year at the Europeans where the first day was the individual and he was a bit nervous there, he was so much better here and came back to me and built his confidence back up.”

Sophie Wells, Frank Hosmar, and Regine Mispelkamp in their presentation ceremony. ©Sportfot

The discipline of Adequan® Para-Dressage will continue tomorrow and conclude on Saturday, September 22 in Tryon Stadium, featuring Team and Individual Freestyle competition over the next four days.

 

Vaulters Reignite Friendly Rivalry

 European neighbors Switzerland, Germany and Austria are taking on the rivalry again in the Christie’s International Real Estate’s Vaulting discipline at the FEI World Equestrian Games™ Tryon 2018 Vaulting team competition. The Swiss squad finished first in the compulsory, scoring 7.979. Germany ranks second on 7.794 and Austria (7.355) is third.

The score for the horses decided first and second place, with Swiss gelding Rayo de la Luz getting an average of 8.3. Germany’s Danny Boy Old collected 8.11 from two of the eight judges whose task it is to solely assess the horses’ performance.

“With four years of vaulting under his belt, we [have been] vaulting him since two years and he has developed fantastically,” said lunger Monika Winkler-Bischofberger on the 13-year-old gelding.

The U.S. team of Pacific Coast Vaulters finished fourth on their squad horse, Diva, with lunger Carolyn Bland.”The horse and the lunger were amazing,” the vaulters raved afterwards. “That was the best it has gone all year and it is great to be on home turf.”Fifth-placed Italy had a bad start when going over time and therefore the last movement was not scored.

“That was not our best compulsory, but we are better in the Freestyle anyway. We are Italians!” said Laura Carnabuci, lunger for former dressage horse Hot Tek Date.

The confrontation at the top of the field of eleven teams even goes down to a personal level, with Swiss lunger Monika Winkler-Bischofsberger and counterpart Patric Looser for Germany originally coming from the same club in Switzerland, in Luetisburg near the city of St. Gallen.

“It is a friendly rivalry between us, but we both treat it as a fair competition. I wished Monika lots of luck back at the stables before we started out,” said Patric Looser, who won the individual World championship title at WEG 2010 in Kentucky for Switzerland and founded the German team based in Cologne three years later. He still carries a Swiss passport.

“But I am at home there now. And vaulters are one big family anyway,” Looser said.

Austria Tops the Vaulting Female Compulsory

Austria’s Katharina Luschin scored 8.506 in the Christie’s International Real Estate’s Vaulting discipline at the FEI World Equestrian Games™ Tryon 2018 on Tuesday, thus topping the winning compulsory result from the previous WEG in France. All three Austrian female competitors are in the top four spots with Germany’s Kristina Boe wedged in between on second position (8.347).

 

“It was a super feeling to go in here. I just did my thing, but I never thought this result could be possible,” said leading Luschin after the first of three more rounds to come towards the individual title. The 26-year-old is at her second WEG, after finishing 4th individually in Normandy and taking Bronze at the previous World Championship in Le Mans 2016.

With Daniela Fritz on 8.294 in third place and 23-year-old Lisa Wild sitting fourth, Austria has set a solid foundation for their road to medal success.”We took a risk, putting all three of them on this one horse, Fairytale, but it worked out,” said Manfred Rebel, team chief for Austria.

Germany’s Vaulting World Cup winner Kristina Boe showed extraordinary elevation in her compulsory and led the competition until Luschin took over.

“The higher the pressure, the better I do,” said the 32-year-old trauma surgeon.

The top ten female vaulters of 30 in total all scored above 8.0, showing the new class of the sport.

The placing also shows how tight the competition at the top has developed. Germany places all three female vaulters in the top ten, with Sarah Kay and Janina Derks trailing Boe in sixth and seventh place.  Switzerland has Nadja Büttiker, Marina Mohar and Ilona Haennich placed in a row up to currently rank 11th.

World’s No.1 Anna Cavallaro, silver medalist at WEG 2014, is sitting with Derks on 7th place. The medical doctor is known for her freestyle abilities.

German Thomas Brüsewitz Earns Vaulting Male Compulsory’s Top Score

Germany’s Thomas Brüsewitz took the lead in the Christie’s International Real Estate’s Individual Male Compulsory at the FEI World Equestrian Games™ Tryon 2018 on Tuesday. The No. 3-ranked athlete scored a 8.480 in the Individual Male Compulsory, besting compatriot Jannik Heiland on 8.468 and Lambert Leclezio (8.440) representing France.

The compulsory was the second appearance for Brüsewitz on Danny Boy Old after he had competed within the team in the morning.

“The double burden does not phase me. I am used to it. It is like that since two years,” said the 24-year-old who comes from a vaulting family. Danny Boy got out much fresher the second time and helped Thomas to a good score after he had to be on as the first vaulter this morning because he knows the horse best and could set him up for the others in the team,” said lunger Patric Looser.

Jannik Heiland, twice an FEI World Cup™ Bronze medal winner, might have lost the lead in the first part of the compulsory, he acknowledged. “The scissors could have been a bit better, but the rest went okay. I felt very well-prepared and was mentally up to it,” Heiland saidFrance’s Lambert Leclezio, the 21-year-old World Champion 2016, had to go out first. His 8.440 average was the lead until Brüsewitz performed.

World’s No.1 Jannis Drewell from Germany sits fourth, competing for the first time without his mother at the lunge line. He opted for Lars Hansen and experienced Feliciano 44 instead.

“We did not want to overstrain our young horse at this world championship level,” said Drewell, who serves in the German military and devotes his time professionally to vaulting.

The surprise of the day was young Juan Martin Clavijo from Colombia, scoring 8.146 and finishing within the top six vaulters out of 19 who finished above 8.0. The 18-year-old is one of only around 150 vaulters in Colombia. After he had finished school near Bogota in June, he is now preparing for a year in Switzerland and spends his time either vaulting or learning German.

Christie’s International Real Estate Vaulting continues on Wednesday from 9:30 a.m. EST with further qualifications. The Freestyle for the FEI Nations Cup™ starts at 5:30 p.m. EST.  

World’s Top Riders Ready to Hit the Heights as Bank of America Merrill Lynch Jumping Prepares for Take-Off in Tryon

 

All five of the world’s top-ranked riders head a star-studded field when jumping begins at the FEI World Equestrian Games™ Tryon 2018 on Wednesday. Harrie Smolders leads a strong Dutch challenge, while the United States’ hopes of a first WEG title will be driven by McLain Ward, and powerhouse Germany have the brilliant Marcus Ehning in their ranks.

Sweden, meanwhile, can call upon Henrik von Eckermann and Rio 2016 Olympic Individual Silver medalist Peder Fredricson, with 2008 Olympic champion Eric Lamaze chasing world title success as part of the Canadian team, and 2012 Olympic Individual Gold medal winner Steve Guerdat among Switzerland’s entries.In total, more than 120 riders from over 40 countries will contest the medals, which will be awarded in team and individual competitions and starts with Wednesday’s Speed Class, when each rider performs one round against the clock.

Current Olympic gold medalists France, 2017 FEI Nations Cup™ winners in the Dutch, 2010 WEG victors in Germany and reigning European Champions in Team Ireland are among those with major designs on Team Gold.

Smolders, Jur Vrieling and Marc Houtzager will drive the Dutch challenge under Chef d’Equipe Rob Ehrens, while Ireland include two riders, Cian O’Connor and Shane Sweetnam, who helped deliver Gold in Gothenburg just over a year ago. The United States’ contingent sees Ward backed up by quality talent such as Laura Kraut and youngster Adrienne Sternlicht.

“We have huge confidence in the team, and our goals are several,” U.S. Chef d’Equipe and technical adviser Robert Ridland said.
“Our first aim is to be in the top six and qualify for the (2020) Olympics, which is not going to be easy – it never is – and the podium is the ultimate goal. We have spent the summer preparing and testing, and we feel that we are ready. It is not a one-day competition – there is a lot of jumping – but we feel prepared and ready.”

In addition to household names of the sport, Tryon’s U.S. Trust Arena will welcome a number of new countries to the FEI World Equestrian Games™ family.

Lebanon, Bolivia, Macedonia and Romania all make their WEG debut in any sport, with Thailand, Bahrain, Ecuador and Luxembourg fielding jumping riders for the first time.

The competition reaches a thrilling conclusion on Sunday – also closing the curtain on Tryon 2018 – with closing rounds of the individual event, when spectators can expect to witness sport of the highest quality as medals are decided.

It is likely to be a who’s who of the Jumping discipline that pen another chapter in WEG history, providing a thrilling climax to 11 days of spectacular action.For more information on the FEI World Equestrian Games™ Tryon 2018 and to view start lists and results, please visit www.Tryon2018.com.

To purchase tickets or for more information about the WEG, please visit www.Tryon2018.com.

Click here to watch the FEI World Equestrian Games™ Tryon 2018 promo video!

Media Inquiries

For media inquiries about the FEI World Equestrian Games™ Tryon 2018, please visit www.Tryon2018.com or contact one of the following press officers:

National Press Officer – Carly Weilminster at cweilminster@tryonweg.com or +1 (828) 863-1144

International Press Officer – Gayle Telford at gayle@revolutionsports.co.uk or 0044(0) 203 176 0355

For more information from the FEI, please contact Shannon Gibbons at shannon.gibbons@fei.orgor 0041-78-750-6146.

Photo Credit ©Sportfot. These photos may be used once in relation to this press release with proper credit.

About the Tryon International Equestrian Center
Tryon International Equestrian Center at Tryon Resort, host of the FEI World Equestrian Games™ Tryon 2018, is one of the world’s premier equestrian lifestyle destinations, with first-class facilities for all eight FEI disciplines. From carousel to competition, the mission of Tryon Resort is to celebrate the magic of the horse, grow equestrian sport, and increase access to this majestic animal. Tryon Resort is a spring, summer and fall haven for equestrian competitors and enthusiasts, and a year-round destination for connoisseurs of diverse cuisine and shopping, lodging getaways, and family entertainment. Learn more at www.Tryon.com.

About the FEI World Equestrian Games™
The FEI World Equestrian Games™, held every four years in the middle of the summer Olympic cycle, is the property of the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI), the world governing body for horse sport organized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). It is one of the biggest events on the global sporting calendar, combining World Championships in the Olympic disciplines of Jumping, Dressage and Eventing, the Paralympic discipline of Para-Equestrian Dressage, as well as Driving, Endurance, Vaulting and Reining.

The inaugural FEI World Equestrian Games™ were hosted in Stockholm (SWE) in 1990. Since then the Games have been staged in The Hague (NED) in 1994, Rome (ITA) in 1998, Jerez (ESP) in 2002, and Aachen (GER) in 2006. The first Games to be organized outside Europe were the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™ in Kentucky (USA) 2010. The Games came back to Europe for the 2014 edition, the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™ in Normandy (FRA), which attracted more than 500,000 on-site spectators and a worldwide television audience of 350 million, as well as delivering an economic impact of €368 million to the French economy.

The Tryon 2018 Games offer qualifying slots for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The FEI World Equestrian Games™ History Hub can be viewed here.