Swedish Anne-Christine Arvidsson and her pony Knut did it again. They outpaced every single one in the obstacles with only 72.52 points and took her third marathon gold medal in succession. At the same time Arvidsson captured the lead in the single class - from a sixth position in dressage.

bI am over the moon, itbs fantastic! My highest wish was to be world champion in marathon for the third time. I didnbt think I could catch up with Peter Koux and his 12 points-lead. But we did it and it feels greatb says Anne-Christine Arvidsson jubilant.

bKnut is 15 years old now and will be pensioned. This World Championship is my last event at elite level, but it is a wonderful way to stopb continues Arvidsson, who in the future plans to keep to smaller events back home in Sweden with a new horse.

Second in the marathon came Gilles Curinier from France with 74.15 points, while Sarah Howe from Great Britain took the third place with 77.83 points. this puts Sarah Howe in a third position in the overall standing.

The marathon was b as forecasted by the drivers yesterday - very tough. Several single ponies were clearly tired out after the eight obstacles of which several are very physically demanding, e.g. the long, exhausting bridge obstacle in the forest next to Dorthealyst.

A tight race is now lined up before the cones tomorrow. With 122.92 points total Arvidsson has a small lead to number two in the overall standing, Danish Peter Koux with 124.93 who came merely in a 11th place in the marathon. Sarah Howe in the third place has 132.07 points total, closely followed by Dutch Arjo J. Van Kekem with 133.60 points, British Julie Camm with 134.90 points and American Rochelle Temple with 135.38 points.