Frenchman Nicolas Andreani and Germany’s Simone Wiegele were the winners in the first round of the inaugural FEI World Cup™ Vaulting event at Leipzig in Germany this evening.  In the Male section Andreani, bronze medallist at last year’s Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™ in Kentucky, pipped world champion Patrick Looser from Switzerland, while Wiegele, bronze medallist in the Female event at the US fixture, edged out fellow-countrywoman and Kentucky silver medallist Antje Hill.

The vaulting competitors are delighted to have joined their Jumping, Dressage and Driving counterparts at the ground-breaking four-way finals in Leipzig and are looking forward to bringing their sport into the main arena tomorrow morning.

A CHALLENGE
The smaller Hall 3, in which they competed today, proved a challenge for some.  Judge, Helma Schwarzmann, pointed out that “some of the horses had problems in the arena because they are used to working in a calm environment and it was quite noisy in there.  As a result, not all of them put on their best performances,” she said. 

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