History was made in Hungary as Boyd Exell (AUS) and The Netherlands won record-breaking gold medals in front of passionate crowds at the State Stud Farm.
Boyd’s quest for his 7th consecutive gold seemed assured after the dressage on Friday afternoon, when he was only kept off the top spot by Chester Weber’s (USA) mesmerising test. But the Australian had done enough to stay in touch, knowing he had brought specialist marathon horses to Hungary, selected after he attended the test event last year.
As expected, they dominated Saturday’s demanding marathon over undulating ground and through the eight obstacles to take a commanding lead. With such a huge advantage coming into the final cones phase, victory was never in doubt, even if one ball rolled for three penalties, which gave him a total of 146.93. To add to the already fantastic day for the Australians, Boyd and Tor van den Berge won their first world medal with bronze (340.77).
“It’s super! There should be special congratulations for Tor, and I am so impressed with how it went because with two members on a team, there’s no drop score and everything has to count. We’ve been close before, and we’ve been knocking on the door, but it’s finally happened at a World Championship.
The public here made it really memorable, especially during the marathon with such huge crowds who stayed all day. And it was great to see a full stadium during the opening ceremony and again today. I have worked with the Hungarian drivers for the last one and a half years to improve their performances, so I feel very comfortable here,” said Boyd Exell (AUS) .
“What a wonderful experience this has been at a World Championship as it can be really tough. But being in front of a crowd like that was incredible and I am very lucky to have a teammate like Boyd,” remarked Tor van den Berge (AUS).
Bronze Chester Weber of the United States pours champagne over gold Boyd EXELL of Australia after the FEI Four-in-Hand Driving World Championship. (FEI/Martin Dokupil photo)
Another who helped secure his podium place after the marathon was Bram Chardon (NED) who won his first individual world medal with silver, helped by a winning double clear cones round. His total of 157.74 contributed to the unprecedented 12th team gold for The Netherlands which gave his father Ijsbrand his 32nd world medal and 14th gold. Together with Koos de Ronde, they won the team competition on 322.69.
“The training at home has been good and we made the right choices, bringing some new horses who gave extra impulsion on the marathon and especially today in the cones, the young horse was fantastic. After a rough season this is the best possible outcome,” said Bram Chardon (NED).
“I think it was an excellent event. The arena and the stabling were super, and the marathon was a true World Championship one with great obstacles and the unbelievable spectators. So, I have a very good impression about it all,” commented Koos de Ronde (NED)
Dressage winner Chester Weber (USA) kept his cool to maintain a podium place for the bronze despite rolling two balls in the cones to end on 159.13. Fredrick Persson (SWE) was 4th overall on 166.97 helped by his double clear cones for 3rd place. Second in the cones was Jérôme Voutaz (SUI) who was one of the first to drive in the morning on an eliminated score after the marathon, and he produced a double clear that was not matched until the day’s last session.
All three German team members drove in the final cones session as the top eight drivers came forward in reverse order. There were no individual medals for them but a well-deserved silver team medal on a score of 330.33 for Mareike Harm, Michael Brauchle and Georg von Stein (who was 5th on 169.49).
Mareike Harm (GER) said, “A few days before the show my good dressage leader had a foot abscess so he couldn’t come and as dressage is my strongest phase it was a bit disappointing. So, we had a marathon horse in the lead and he did his very best so it was a great outcome for us to come 6th and then for the team to get silver too. The show was fantastic, and we enjoyed being in the town and had fun here too.”
Dreams of another medal for the hosts didn’t come true but they finished 5th behind Belgium in the team event, helped by a strong cones round from Jόszef Dobrovitz (HUN) who responded emotionally to the cheering crowd at the end. He later said in the press conference that the organisation and preparation of the event were brilliant, and that the Hungarian audience is the best in the world!
It has been a triumphant 26th Four-in-Hand World Championship and today the stadium buzzed with a 6,500-capacity crowd who relished the spectacle at the State Stud Farm. The organisers were thrilled to host the event 40 years after the historic 7th World Championship in 1984 when Lászlό Juhász won double gold. As the test driver here, he was celebrated alongside his fellow legendary Hungarian drivers throughout, from the opening to the closing ceremonies.
More from News:
