By Daniel Kaiser
 
World Champion Nicolas Andreani (FRA) and eight-time national champion Anna Cavallaro (ITA) were celebrating victories this weekend at the fourth leg of the FEI World Cup™ Vaulting 2012/2013 series in Leipzig (GER), part of the famous international equestrian event Partner Pferd.
 
Andreani, vaulting on Radix SB and lunged by Patric Looser, won with 8,666 points, while Cavallaro was in a class of her own, finishing on 8,796 points to win by a massive margin and securing her third success of the current series on Harley lunged by Nelson Vidoni.
 
Andreani, now 28, last competed in Leipzig two years ago in the first FEI World Cup™ Vaulting Final. After the first round he was tipped to win, but the then World Champion Patric Looser (SUI) moved ahead in the second round to claim the first FEI World Cup™ Vaulting title.
 
Andreani did not want to make the long trip to Leipzig with his own horse Just A Kiss, but participating in Leipzig was key to qualifying for this year’s FEI World Cup™ Vaulting Final in Braunschweig (GER).
 
When he asked Patric Looser for help, he got an immediate yes. This year in Leipzig, Looser lunged three competitors on the 12-year-old Westphalian bay gelding Radix SB, which is based at Looser’s stable in Cologne.
 
“Within the international Vaulting family there is a fantastic bond,” said Looser. “For sure, in competitions we are competitors. Everyone must handle their own problems and challenges and has to wait for the decisions of the judges. But in the Vaulting circle we are all good friends, we do training sessions together and have fun at parties all around the world.”
 
But even the most successful vaulter of recent years, who retired after securing last year’s FEI World Cup™ Vaulting title in Bordeaux, was nervous before going into the arena in Leipzig. "I had faith that Nicolas would win with a good margin if he was performing on his own horse, so I wanted to offer him the best opportunity to do the same on Radix,” explained Looser.
 
This was no easy task, as Looser had no experience of Andreani’s freestyle routine on Radix SB. "In the first competition our interaction was perfect, but in the second this was much more tricky,” said Looser.
 
But Andreani skillfully replaced some difficult elements of his freestyle, showing a very clean free section on Radix SB, which stands at 1.9 metres, and finished with a spectacular twisted back flip dismount. "Radix is a very good horse. I felt comfortable despite him being three inches taller than Just a Kiss. I was surprised that this became such a small problem for me,” said Andreani.
 
Andreani had put himself under considerable pressure before the second round. "I wanted to win so much here in Leipzig, and with Patric’s help I managed to overcome my little Leipzig hurdle - many thanks to Patric,” he said at the press conference.
 
Wild Card surprise for Junior Champion
 
Germany’s Thomas Brüsewitz, Junior Male champion at the FEI Open European Vaulting Championships 2011, secured second place in Leipzig with 8,447 points on Airbus lunged by Irina Lenkeit.
 
Leipzig was Brüsewitz’s first Senior competition in his first Senior year, and he used his Wild Card to impress the spectators at this high-profile international event.
 
His performance was full of dynamism, with impressive strength elements and original choreography. "It has been a wonderful feeling to be here in front of this amazing crowd and to perform so well,” said the 18-year-old, who received the go-ahead to compete in Leipzig only days before the competition.
 
Brüsewitz was ecstatic later that evening when he heard that he will also be competing with a Wild Card at the Final, alongside his older brother Victor who secured second places in Munich and Salzburg.
 
The 28-year-old Lukas Klouda (CZE), who also competed on Radix SB lunged by Patric Looser, took third place in Leipzig with 8,370 points and currently leads the series rankings after winning the Munich and Salzburg legs.
 
Impressive victory for Cavallaro
 
Italy’s Anna Cavallaro, 26, continued with her impressive run of victories in Leipzig, and her goal at the Final in Braunschweig is very clear: "That's the town where I want to win,” she said.
 
Her self-confidence seems well justified, with no-one being able to beat the young woman from Verona. In Leipzig, her virtually error-free performance secured her a total score of 8,796 points. Judge Helma Schwarzman (GER) said: "She has an incredible freestyle routine with nearly perfect execution. When she vaults, my heart flutters.”
 
"It is impossible to describe how I feel after winning in Leipzig, where the FEI World Cup Vaulting series was born,” said Cavallaro at the press conference, where she also thanked her lunger Nelson Vidoni.
 
With her outstanding freestyle performance to the song "Time to Say Goodbye" sung by Andrea Bocelli, Cavallaro seemed to vault directly into the hearts of the audience, and Vidoni was happy to compete in front of a packed arena. “It shows that Vaulting has finally arrived as an international equestrian sport,” he said ecstatically.  
 
Switzerland’s Simone Jaїser on Luk, lunged by Rita Blieske, finished second with 8,199 points and is now qualified for the Final.
 
Third-placed Regina Burgmayr (GER) on Cappucino, lunged by Tessa Lubben, earned 8,103 points, and is also looking forward to Braunschweig: "It is a great honour to be able to compete at the Final, especially as this will take place in Germany. I’m happy that all vaulters will start on zero at the Final, and I’ll be working hard now to improve more and more for that challenge.”
 
Bordeaux - final qualifying leg
 
The final leg of the FEI World Cup™ Vaulting 2012/2013 series will take place in Bordeaux (FRA) on 08-10 February 2013. The athletes competing in Bordeaux can be seen here. The top six male and female vaulters will then qualify for the Final in Braunschweig on 14-17 March 2013.
 
FEI World Cup Vaulting™ 2012/2013 Leipzig results:
View male results here.
View female results here.
 
Notes to Editors
Download the FEI World Cup™ Vaulting 2012/2013 press kit at FEI Press Kit Zone.
 
FEI Media contacts:
 
Grania Willis
Director Press Relations
 grania.willis@fei.org
+41 78 750 61 42
 
Ruth Grundy
Manager Press Relations
ruth.grundy@fei.org
+41 78 750 61 45