No medal for Germany, Benjamin Werndl and Isabell Werth in fourth and ninth place – and the second gold for the new British super couple Charlotte Fry and Glamourdale: The dressage competitions at the World Championships in Herning ended with a high-class and extremely exciting freestyle decision.
Six hours after sixth place at the start of the show jumping World Championships, there was also little reason for exuberant joy in the dressage camp. There was also no medal in the second individual decision at the World Championships in Denmark. Benjamin Werndl from Tuntenhausen, who rode Famoso in fourth place and was therefore the happiest German rider, ensured the best placement in the freestyle in Herning, Denmark. “It’s indescribable,” enthused Werndl. “He’s a superstar now, I knew it beforehand,” he said of Famoso. “Everything worked out as I had planned.” National trainer Monica Theodorescu praised: “He rode a really great championship. He has established himself among the best in the world.”
Isabell Werth from Rheinberg rode Quantaz in ninth place. British Charlotte Fry became the new world champion with Glamourdale. Silver went to the favorite Danish Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour with Vamos Amigos. “No risk, no fun”, Werth commented on her ride. “I rode this freestyle with this music for the first time. There were a few small mistakes.” However, she was “totally happy” with the development of the horse, even if this time it was not enough to win an individual medal.
In the show jumpers, a strong performance by last rider Christian Ahlmann saved the team’s start at the World Championships in the afternoon. After the time competition, the team of national coach Otto Becker is in sixth place after a total of two knockdowns. After the first of three partial tests of the team classification, the quartet from Sweden leads ahead of France and Belgium. “The first goal has been achieved, we are within reach,” commented Becker. “Hopefully we can work our way forward a bit,” he said after the mistakes made by Marcus Ehning (Borken) with Stargold and André Thieme (Plau am See) with Chakaria, which prevented a better result. “Of course we would have preferred one less mistake.”
Starting rider Ehning came out of the course with four penalty points when he rode Stargold, which were converted into penalty seconds. “That was my mistake,” said the 48-year-old: “I made the wrong decision.” The team world champion from 2010 enthused that his stallion was in great shape and said with a wink: “He did well, I did badly.” On the other hand, debutant Jana Wargers showed a clear round with Limbridge. “I’m super, super happy,” the 30-year-old commented on the first world championship ride of her life. She wasn’t particularly excited, Wargers reported. The national coach was not entirely satisfied, she reported: “He said I could have ridden a bit faster.”
In contrast to the World Cup debutant, André Thieme also made a mistake. The European champion from Plau am See didn’t ride as fast with Chakaria as Ehning. “I would have loved to have contributed a good result,” said the 47-year-old: “If I hadn’t made any mistakes in that time, I could of course have helped a lot better.” The team had Christian Ahlmann to thank for the fact that it was still a decent starting position for the other two laps. The professional from Marl showed a flawless round with Dominator and is the best German in the individual with ninth place. “The feeling was very good,” commented Ahlmann. “We had a good rhythm. Every jump was relaxed, careful and focused.”
