With 576,000 spectators attending the competitions and media coverage on an unprecedented scale, the Games were clearly a remarkable public and sporting success demonstrating the potential of equestrian sport to an enormous audience. After four Games at temporary sites, Aachen provided a venue that was established with full horse show facilities and perfected organisation.The Games began for the first time with Endurance, accompanied by torrential downpours; however, the sight of the drenched leaders coming into the stadium cheered by the enthusiastic crowd was an emotional occasion not to be missed. They were also the first FEI World Equestrian Games™ for FEI President HRH Princess Haya.The Dressage team event followed predictable lines and it was in the individual competitions that the real excitement was to be found. While not all were convinced about the two medal formula – one for the Grand Prix and one for the Freestyle – there was little doubt at the end of the day that two world champions had been crowned.Aachen’s smaller indoor arena – Stadium 3 – provided the surprise success story of the Games. Reining and Vaulting are arguably the most disparate of disciplines but in terms of passion and excitement they exceeded all expectations. The original concept of the FEI World Equestrian Games™ was to give fans of one discipline a chance to see another, but that wasn’t always possible. Aachen however provided that opportunity and both Vaulting and Reining showed that they stand proud with the longer and more established sports.Eventing held its breath: the first four-star Championship without steeple chase, a new venue, torrential rain and inexperienced organisation. But what a success! The cross country course was a master stroke, difficult and challenging but safe. Driving saw another great competition and, as always, Jumping dominated the media coverage. However, the real star of the show was the ground in the main arena where, after more rain than anyone could have imagined, the surface remained almost perfect.In publicity terms, the FEI World Equestrian Games™ in Aachen made a very strong impact. When compared with equivalent media coverage from a range of sources, this edition generated 60% more exposure than the FEI World Equestrian Games™ in Jerez in 2002.
Everything about the FEI World Equestrian Games™ Jumping competition was phenomenal, from the record line-up of 116 riders from 41 nations to the quality of the horses and the courses. You couldn’t have scripted a more exciting individual finale, with the result having to be decided by a nail-biting jump-off in which Belgium’s Jos Lansink came out on top.
The Dutch won the team title ahead of the USA in silver and Germany in bronze. For the first time in the history of the Games the second championship competition, two rounds run according to the Nations Cup formula, was held on two consecutive days in order to fall in line with the Olympic format. A total of 25 teams competed over Frank Rothenberger’s tracks and the Dutch were in the lead going into the second and final round of the team competition which was held over a new course and under floodlights. It was a total surprise when the brand new side from Ukraine, only put together a couple of months earlier and comprising former Belgian and German nationals, was lying second ahead of the USA who were a close third and who had Team Germany breathing down their necks going into the closing stages. It was such a close contest that all it took was one time fault for the Ukraine to lose the silver medal to the US and the bronze medal to Germany. The gold medal winning side consisted of Jeroen Dubbeldam (BMC Up and Down), Albert Zoer (Okidoki), Piet Raymakers (Van Schijndel’s Curtis) and Gerco Schroder who produced three spectacular clear rounds from Eurocommerce Berlin to clinch it.
The four-horse final to decide the individual medals was completely gripping, and speculation was rife about how the three female contenders, Germany’s Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum, America’s Beezie Madden and Australia’s Edwina Alexander would cope with the size and strength of Lansink’s massive grey stallion. But Cumano was a complete gentleman, carrying all of his lady riders home without fault. Lansink had some edgy moments with Madden’s over-excited Authentic, but only Alexander faulted with Michaels-Beerbaum’s increasingly nervous Shutterfly leaving the other three to come back to jump off for the medals. Lansink and Cumano jumped clear, and although Michaels-Beerbaum and Shutterfly were quicker they knocked a rail so when Madden, who had led the individual standings all the way, hit the very last she had to settle for silver ahead of her German rival in bronze.
The format changed once more at the fifth FEI World Equestrian Games™ with three gold medals up for grabs as the Grand Prix Special was once again judged separately and no longer as a qualifier for the Freestyle. The changes were a great hit with the public, and the stadiums for the Special and the Kür were sold out.
Germany remained unbeaten in the FEI World Championship competition for the ninth consecutive time but they were pushed all the way to the line by the silver medallists from The Netherlands this time around. Hubertus Schmidt (Wansuela Suerte), Heike Kemmer (Bonaparte), Aachen-born Nadine Capellmann (Elvis) and Isabell Werth (Satchmo) claimed gold while the Dutch side of newcomer Laurens van Lieren (Hexagon’s Ollright), Imke Schellekens-Bartels (Sunrise), Anky Van Grunsven (Keltec Salinero) and Edward Gal (Lingh) finished less than six points behind, with USA taking the bronze.
The top 30 riders started in the Grand Prix Special on a scratch score and it seemed van Grunsven and Salinero had it in the bag until Werth set off to produce the best Special of her career with the unpredictable Satchmo. So often badly behaved, he at last lived up to all his promise. “A miracle has happened, and I’m so happy that I kept on believing in him!”, Werth said. Adding to the surprises was the bronze medal won by Denmark’s Andreas Helgstrand and Blue Horse Matine, at 9 years the youngest horse in the Championship.
And the Danish duo were sensational once again when taking silver in the exciting Freestyle which, held under floodlights, had the audience spellbound. Van Grunsven was completely in her comfort zone when stealing the gold while Werth had to settle for bronze here. The Dutch dancing queen admitted she was wasn’t wildly enthusiastic about the new format initially. “But of course I’ve changed my opinion now!” she said after wowing the appreciative Aachen crowd.
This was the first FEI World Equestrian Games™ to be run in the short format and it would be one to remember as massive crowds poured in to see the home team dominate and Great Britain’s Zara Phillips prove that she has what it takes to be a World Champion by holding her nerve to clinch the individual gold.
Germany’s Frank Ostholt (Air Jordan 2), Hinrich Romeike (Marius Voigt Logistik), Bettina Hoy (Ringwood Cockatoo) and Ingrid Klimke (Sleep Late) completely dominated the race for the team medals, but none of them managed to make it onto the individual podium on which Australia’s Clayton Fredericks stood in silver medal spot and America’s Amy Tryon in bronze. The sheer consistency of the British effort earned them team silver, but the defending team champions from the USA lost out to the Australians by the tiniest margin of just 0.8 points in a fierce battle for bronze.
Philips, daughter of former individual European champion HRH The Princess Royal (1971) and Olympic team champion Mark Phillips (1972), came into Aachen on the back of double-gold with Toytown at the previous year’s European Championships. Fifth after dressage she was out in front going into the final Jumping phase having survived a scary moment when pitched forward while jumping into the water on the cross-country course the previous day. When her main rival, Germany’s Bettina Hoy, had two fences down and a time fault the door opened wider for the British star but, with the noise of the arena at fever-pitch, she didn’t hear the starting bell and when she finally got going she was under huge pressure for time. However when she hit only the last element of the triple combination she took the golden crown, finishing just over two penalty points ahead of Australia’s Fredericks.
Fifty-six of the 79 starters finished the competition.
Aachen, the most traditional Driving event in the world, was a fitting host for the FEI World Driving Championship. However, the marathon was not held in the Aachen forest where, for decades, the world’s top drivers had competed for the coveted Talbot Trophy. Instead, Aachen secured a vast area of land just across the road from the main stadium where both the Eventing cross country and the Driving marathon took place. And it was hailed an enormous success.
Forty-nine drivers from 19 nations competed, and Felix Brasseur of Belgium, World Champion in 1996, overtook Ijsbrand Chardon of the Netherlands for individual gold while Germany’s Christoph Sandmann took the bronze. There were high hopes that German Driving star, Michael Freund, would take a medal in his farewell event and it was his brilliant double-clear in the cones that secured the team title for his country, with Belgium lining up in silver medal spot and The Netherlands in bronze.
Freund, who ran into trouble at the first obstacle in the marathon, finished fifth in the individual standings, behind former World Champion Tomas Eriksson from Sweden in fourth. Showing superior skill and horsemanship, Brasseur clinched gold with an impeccable double-clear on the final day. Chardon slipped to silver with a single knock-down in the final phase and bronze medallist Christoph Sandmann joined gold-medal-winning team-mates Freund and Rainer Duen in a special parade to mark Freund’s retirement from international competition.
Miguel Vila Ubach and the Arabian, Hungares, secured Spain’s first-ever World Endurance Championship title. The 160 kilometre route brought competitors through six loops over hilly terrain that spanned three countries - Belgium, The Netherlands and Germany. This 11th FEI World Championship in Endurance was held on the first day of the fifth FEI World Equestrian Games™ and 159 riders from 41 countries set off at 06.00. Nine hours, 12 minutes and 27 seconds later, Vila Ubach and his grey gelding entered the main stadium in a torrential downpour. The Spanish duo averaged a pace of 17.38 km per hour, steadily climbing the leaderboard from a first-gate finish of 47th to move up incrementally to 33rd to 21st to 16th to 8th and were first to cross finish line.
Individual silver went to French team member Virginie Atger with Kangoo d’Aurabelle, and it was a great event for French riders as individual entry, Elodie Le Lebourier steered the 16-year-old Sangho Limuousin into bronze. The French team of Atger, Philippe Benoit (Akin du Boulve) and Pascale Dietsch (Hifrane du Barthas) rode as a unit to take the title ahead of Switzerland in silver and Portugal in bronze. And to top the great French performance Dietsch’s 11-year-old mare won the Best Condition Award.
40% of the riders (65 participants) actually finished the competition.
It made its WEG debut in Jerez (ESP) four years earlier but when it arrived in Aachen the participation rate in the Reining World Championship rose by 70 percent. In front of some 8,000 raucous spectators, Team USA’s Dell Hendricks (Starbucks Sidekick), Tim McQuay (Mister Nicadual), Matt Mills (Easy Otie Whiz) and Aaron Ralston (Smart Paul Olena) successfully defended the team title they won four years earlier. Team Canada finished second and Italy lined up in third.
And, from a starting field of 74 competitors from 22 countries, it was Canada’s Duane Latimer and Hang Ten Surprise who captured individual gold, with the USA’s McQuay and Ralston having to settle for silver and bronze. Lots of yelling, hooting and hollering accompanied every performance and when it came down to a one-on-one between Latimer and McQuay for the top step of the podium the sound barrier was nearly broken. They had to run pattern no. 9 a second time to separate them, and when McQuay’s 226 was overtaken by Latimer’s 228 it was a game over. “Honestly I can’t wait until we have this in Kentucky”, McQuay said.
The German stranglehold on the world squad title remained in place at Aachen as the host nation won the Championship to rapturous applause from some 7,000 spectators in the Deutsche Bank Stadium. It was also the fifth time that vaulters from RSV Neuss-Grimlinghausen came out on top, only once looking like conceding victory to the competitive squads from the USA, who claimed silver, and Austria who eventually earned the bronze.
Eighty competitors from 23 nations took part and Germany’s Kai Vorberg successfully defended the Men’s crown. And it was fellow-German, Gero Meyer, who claimed silver while Slovakia’s Ladislav Majdlen took the bronze.
The USA’s Megan Benjamin became the first female American vaulter to win a world championship. The 18-year-old Californian led through all three days of competition and pinned Austria’s Katharina Faltin and Sissi Jarz onto the remaining steps of the podium.
We use cookies on this site to enhance your user experience. By clicking any link on this page you are giving your consent for us to set cookies
HEALTH & FITNESS 
TEACH ME 
HORSE & HUMAN 
MY EQUESTRIAN LIFE 
