GB GOLDEN BOYS ARE EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS IN HERNING
Thursday 22 August 2013
Team GBR Showjumpers made history this evening, 22nd August 2013, at the Ecco FEI European Championships in Herning, Denmark by winning the Team Gold medal exactly one year after taking Team Gold at the London 2012 Olympic Games. This consecutive double has only ever been achieved once before, some seventeen years ago in 1996 (by Germany) and demonstrates the strength of British Showjumping after their tumultuous win last year.
Holding the lead from the end of day two, which saw the first leg of the Team competition take place, the GB riders knew they were half way there but also knew they had a long way to go if they were to ensure their gold medal position didn’t fall from their grasp. GB had finished on a total of 8.18 penalties with Switzerland and France hot on their heels with 8.45 and 11.14 penalties respectively. Just one fence behind them was Germany on 12.77.
Ben Maher with the stunning 11 year-old grey mare Cella, owned by Jane Clark put in a brilliant opening clear for the team. Their clear mirrored the one they produced on opening day of the championships when they won the Speed class in addition to their performance yesterday in the opening team competition. This left Ben on zero penalties and on top of the league table heading into the Individual final which takes place on Saturday.
Michael Whitaker was the second rider to come forward with his own 11 year-old chestnut gelding Viking V. The focussed expression on his face when he entered the arena left no-one in any doubt of the difficulty of the course ahead of him. Looking set to produce a second clear match his previous round yesterday it was disappointing to see the top rail of a vertical fall resulting in them accruing four penalties. Stopping the clock just outside the time accrued an additional penalty to give them a finishing total of 5 penalties. With other medal contending nations also faulting GB still retained their narrow lead at the halfway mark with Germany and Sweden hot on their heels.
Will Funnell and his homebred 12 year-old brown stallion Billy Congo must have felt a tremendous amount of pressure in this, their first European Championships, having incurred 12 penalties yesterday. With Billy Congo having settled into the championship environment Will gave him the ride of his life to put in a resounding clear within the time allowed returning a zero penalty score. It was now all down to the fourth and final riders for each of the teams to decide how the medals were going to be allocated once their rounds had been delivered and to know which of the team riders would become the dropscore.
The gold medal chances for GB sat on the shoulders of Peebleshire’s Scott Brash MBE with Lady Kirkham and Lord & Lady Harris’s bay gelding Hello Sanctos. With all of the other nation’s teams having gone GB could only afford one fence down if they were to retain lead. A fence falling early on in the course saw a determined Scott illustrate exactly why so many have attributed him with the nametag ‘Mr Cool’. For where many might have crumbled Scott held his nerve.The 27 year-old recovered his grace to return home with no further faults to claim the gold for Team GBR.
The elation of the team and Rob Hoekstra, the World Class Performance Manager, was visible for all to see as they erupted into congratulatory cheers on the podium from which they were watching. This evening Great Britain has proven once again why they are the best team in the world. The Awards Ceremony, with the Union Flag raised, was made all the more poignant as it was John McEwen who presented the medals. John is Great Britain's longest serving Team Vet and also Vice President of the FEI.
Celebrations of the team's brilliant performance this evening will only be tempered by the need for the riders to keep focussed ahead of Saturday's individual competition. All eyes will be on GB's Ben Maher who heads into the final leg of the competition in gold medal position.
Whilst waiting for Scott to jump each of the three riders gave an insight on the competition and the rounds their horses had performed by saying the following:
Ben Maher on Cella “She has been unbelievable it was the best she’s jumped . I honestly felt it was the best she’d jumped in the three days. The bigger the jumps, the harder she tried. She’ll get a nice day off tomorrow and I’m looking forward to going into the Individual Final on Saturday with a zero score. She’s a once in a lifetime horse and here in Denmark she feels better than ever”
Michael Whitaker on Viking V “I am so very pleased with the way he jumped. It was a very big course, I tried my best to get the time and thought I had, but I was just 2/10’s out. Overall I’m pretty pleased”
Will Funnell on Billy Congo “he jumped super, I knew he could, I knew he would and we did it when it mattered”
Scott Brash commented after his round; “I’m very happy. I was very fortunate today as the other three riders gave me a bit of a cushion. They all did a fantastic job and it’s great that we ended up on top”.
Chef d’Equipe Rob Hoekstra commented; “I’m absolutely delighted, it was a fantastic team performance and all four riders gave good scores. Ben had a tremendous round, Michael was unfortunate to have a pole but Will came in and produced a world class performance. Scott, the youngest of the team, rose to the pressure and put in another great performance. We can only do all this with the support of the whole team behind us, and I’d like to thank all those – the grooms, owners, team staff, and the support we receive from UK Sport Lottery funding, who have contributed to this team result.”
The World Class Programme, which is generously supported by Lottery and Exchequer funding via UK Sport, supports the British equestrian teams at their respective Championships. The Programme incorporates both the Development and Performance Programmes and the Equine Pathway, and works closely with the three British Equestrian Federation Olympic Member Bodies, British Dressage, British Eventing and British Showjumping.
Further details about the European Championships can be located on the Herning 2013 website: http://european-herning.dk/GB.aspx.
Live streaming from the event is available by visiting www.feitv.org and a link to all broadcast times including the BBC Red Button can be found by clicking on the following link http://www.equestrianteamgbr.co.uk/news-article.aspx?article=european-tv-coverage-2013.
RESULTS:
GOLD Great Britain (12.18)
Silver Germany (12.77)
Bronze Sweden (13.44)
.JPG "Chris Smith Clinches Back-to-Back Wins in the International Stairway at Royal Highland Show")