The minimum goal is fifth place and the associated qualification for the Olympic Games. But the German show jumpers also want a medal in Denmark. After the first round of the Nations Cup and before the last round on Friday, things remain exciting.
After Christian Ahlmann, the last rider, made a mistake, the hope that had arisen for a place in the medal ranks was almost gone – but then the competition failed as well. Despite the four penalty points of the veteran, the German show jumpers improved to third place in the second of three World Championship rounds. “We’re still up there, that gives hope,” commented national coach Otto Becker.
Now the German quartet is no longer dependent on mistakes by the competition to win a medal. With three clear rounds on Friday, at least bronze would be certain. “It’s unbelievably tight,” said the national coach: “It will be exciting until the last ride.” However, gold hardly seems possible anymore. Sweden’s team leads France ahead of Friday’s final round. And the Olympic champion’s team is more than two jumping errors ahead of the German team.
Starting rider Marcus Ehning managed a round without any mistakes in contrast to the time competition the day before with Stargold. “It’s a good start for our team,” said the 48-year-old from Borken. A plank wobbled but didn’t fall. “I was lucky today that I wasn’t lucky yesterday,” said Ehning, who was the third of 103 couples to ride with his stallion. “I couldn’t see any other rider before, that’s why I rode so strangely,” explained the veteran, who changed his original tactics in the course. “The nice thing is that he’s so flexible,” he praised Stargold.
With Jana Wargers it was the other way around. After a flawless ride on Wednesday, the 30-year-old conceded four penalty points with Limbridge. “There’s a bit of a disappointment,” admitted the Belgium-based rider. “The pole could have stayed where it was,” the World Cup debutant described the mistake and explained: “Sure, the pressure is there.” Wargers announced: “We keep fighting.”
André Thieme also started the World Cup with a mistake like Ehning. Things went better on the second day, the 47-year-old from Plau am See rode out of the stadium with Chakaria beaming. “That was important for the team classification,” said the European champion. “You can imagine how important that was,” he admitted: “I was eliminated yesterday, it felt really stupid. I was struggling with myself.” That’s why “the clear round was very important for me too”.
Ahlmann missed the chance of a better starting position. The 47-year-old from Marl had shown a clear round with Dominator the day before, but he made a mistake with the powerful jumping stallion and received four penalty points. Ahlmann commented on the mistake in clear words: “That was shit!” The double European champion from 2003 declared self-critically: “I should have done it a bit differently.” For the last of three rounds of the team competition, the experienced rider predicted: “It won’t get any easier.”
