It was medals galore on what was Super Saturday at the FEI Vaulting Championships. Five nations picked up gold medals in a day full of spectacular horse sport.
In a mind-blowing Senior Female final, Austria’s Eva Nagiller took home the Senior World title. She connected with borrowed horse Bastion and lunger Tomasz Ogonowski to produce a gentle and strong freestyle, 8.786. The silver medal went to Germany’s Alina Ross whose connection with family horse Baron R was obvious as she effortlessly performed her zombie Free test, 8.635.
For German sisters Alice and Helen Layer it was a dream come true at their first Senior Championship. Alice held her nerve throughout her routine and was rewarded with the bronze medal, 8.546. Nadja Bϋttiker had to settle for sixth place for the home nation after a time penalty proved incredibly costly.
One Canadian competed in this division – Charlotte Axani, 24, of Alberta and Morpheus placed 20th overall of the 28 finishers.
It was a nail-biting finale in the Men’s competition. Once again, impeccable vaulting led to an impressive final. Germany’s Thomas Brϋsewitz won his first Senior World medal, performing with character to take home the bronze, 8.636. Then it was all down to France. Theo Gardies entered second to last and with musicality and precision he earned top scores from the judges, piling the pressure onto teammate Quentin Jabet. Jabet moved seamlessly and was fully engrossed in his concept, however it wasn’t enough to hold the gold. Theo Gardies became the World Champion aboard Sir Sensation lunged by Sebastion Langlois (8.881), with the silver medal going home with Quentin Jabet for the second time (8.859).
Canada had two male competitors in this championships – BC’s Talmage Conrad, 23, who placed 12th overall with San Felice Z, and Daniel Klotz-Dedora, a 17-year-old from Alberta, who placed 16th with Jupiter.
There was glory for Switzerland in the Pas de Deux, with Zoe Maruccio and Syra Schmid stunning even themselves as a near flawless performance saw them sweep the silver medal (8.491). Germany’s Gisa Sternberg and Linda Otten had some performance errors dropping them one place but winning the bronze medal at their first Championships (8.397). The world title went home to Germany for the third consecutive time. Diana Harwardt and Peter Kϋnne proved themselves to good to be beaten (8.761).
Women’s results here.
Men’s results here.
Quentin Jabet takes a picture of Team France after winning the Nations Team gold during FEI Vaulting World Championship 2024 Bern (SUI) (FEI/Martin Dokoupil)
The FEI Vaulting World Championships came to a close with the ultimate battle of the nations.
In a record-breaking finale, Team France won back-to-back Nations Team titles scoring 9.239. The combination of the French squad with Yannick Kersulec and Orlof de Conde, Quentin Jabet with Ronaldo 200 NRW and Andrea Boe and Theo Gardies, Sir Sensation and Sebastien Langlois proved impregnable. They led from the start with each combination scoring over 9 points.
Team Germany collected the silver medal in a close fought competition, 8.923. Switzerland had pulled ahead after their two individuals however the German squad performed with precision and left Team Switzerland with another Bronze medal, 8.104.
Full results here.
~ with files from FEI Communications
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