Richard Vogel, a member of Germany’s golden team at last month’s FEI World Championships in Aachen (GER), has taken over as world number one in the Longines Rankings for the first time in his career. The 29-year-old, who was sitting second behind the USA’s Kent Farrington in the end-July table, had already notched up enough points to overhaul the American with that precious team medal on home soil, but he made absolutely sure of it by steaming to victory in the Brussels 5* Grand Prix with Gangster Montdesir on the final Sunday of August.
Vogel and his Aachen 2026 partner United Touch S made their Olympic debut together in Paris 2024, and although they came away from Versailles empty-handed, they went on to claim individual gold and team bronze at last year’s European Championship in A Coruña (ESP), and clearly the world title on home turf in Aachen was the major target for this season. While the team plan went perfectly according to plan, individual honours stayed out of reach as the pair finished 22nd, but with the additional points from Brussels, Vogel has now turned around a 147-point deficit in the Longines Rankings a month ago to a 73-point lead over Farrington.
“It still feels very surreal to hear that I am world number one”, Richard Vogel said. “It is a huge achievement and makes me incredibly proud of what we have been able to achieve together as a team. As a rider, I am certainly far from being the best in the world, but I believe this title is a pretty good indication that I have the very best team around me.
“Both the people and, of course, the horses by my side have made this possible. There are countless people I am grateful to who have supported the young boy with big dreams and helped me get to where I am today. Every single one of you is part of this achievement.
“A very special thank you goes to the whole VW team, especially to my grooms, Felicia and Gigi. The passion, dedication and care you give our horses every single day is the foundation of everything we achieve.
“And the biggest thank you, of course, goes to our horses. Having superstars like United, Cloudio and Gangster under my saddle is a true honour, but this achievement belongs just as much to the many other horses who stand slightly in their shadows, as well as those I have had in the past who taught me so much along the way. They are what drive and motivate us every single day.”
Although Vogel has never previously been world number one, until this week he had spent an uninterrupted 28 months in the Longines Rankings top-10. He is the sixth German to top the rankings since 2000, following in the footsteps of Christian Ahlmann, Daniel Deusser, Marcus Ehning, Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum and Ludger Beerbaum.
Farrington, who had removed himself from Team USA selection for Aachen well prior to the championship, was also in winning mode at the end of last month, claiming his third Hampton Classic 5* Grand Prix, this time scoring an 11th 5* Grand Prix win with Greya, one of the horses that earned him the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Final crown back in April. But that wasn’t enough to maintain his world number one slot and he has now dropped to second on 3,303 points behind Vogel’s leading tally of 3,376.
Scott Brash, part of the British bronze medal team in Aachen and a three-time former Longines Rankings leader, has moved up a place to third on 3,274, with Steve Guerdat (SUI), fresh from his foot-perfect gold medal performance with Dynamix de Belheme, leaping up from 16th to fourth on 3,074. Ireland’s Shane Sweetnam, previously in third, has dropped to fifth on 3,066 ahead of Ben Maher (GBR) with 2,866. Piergiorgio Bucci (ITA, 2,866), Daniel Deusser (GER, 2,823) and McLain Ward (USA, 2,734) are next in line, with Nina Mallevaey (FRA) rounding out the top-10 on 2,730 and retaining her world’s best female athlete title.
The pair that joined Guerdat on the individual podium at last month’s world championship have also made impressive moves up the table, with double bronze medallist Harry Charles (GBR) up from 38th to 18th on 2,499, just four points ahead of double silver medallist for Belgium, Thibeau Spits, up from 40th to 19th.
(Canada still has two riders in the top 100: Erynn Ballard, 35th, and Kyle King, 81st.)
Jumping Rankings HERE.
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