Newsletter Editorial, World Championships in Aachen, August 22: Gold for German Show Jumpers at the World Championships

What a day! I think there were at least two winners today: the German show jumping team and the sport itself. That might sound a bit melodramatic, but a little drama is okay once in a while. After all, the ingredients were all there: the pressure to perform, a home World Championship, and no team title in 16 years. And, of course: Aachen. When popes are crowned, it’s in St. Peter’s Basilica—not in the village church of St. Bartholomew.

From a German perspective, it wasn’t exactly nail-biting until the very end—thanks to Daniel Deußer’s clear round (you can relive the entire evening minute by minute here). But the other nations—the U.S.,for instance, which experienced a minor debacle. Scott Brash’s wonderful mare Hello Mango was knocked down following Adrian Whiteway’s collapse. Finally, the Belgians, who fluctuated up and down in the rankings only to end up with silver. A satisfied coach, Peter Weinberg, watched after the press conference as the younger team members, in particular, celebrated beaming at the riders’ bar at the entrance.

It was pouring down. Just like during the awards ceremony. As wonderful and fitting as it is that the nurses are also being honored, when what feels like 20 buckets of water per minute per square meter are pouring down on you, you probably just want to get out of the stadium—with its unique atmosphere—as quickly as possible and get under the nearest roof.

Incidentally, right up until shortly before the start of the second round, it wasn’t even certain whether the competition would take place at all. There was a severe weather warning, and in fact, there was a heavy thunderstorm at the beginning of the competition. It wasn’t until half an hour before the first rider was set to start that it was confirmed the final could take place as planned.

Marcus Ehning is glad to have redeemed himself after the blunder that Küchengirl’s refusal to compete had caused in the collective memory—and certainly in his own as well. That was 20 years ago, and he says he put pressure “on Otto” because he absolutely wanted to ride. National team coach Otto Becker, for his part, has had to explain so often at past championships why they might have fallen just short of a medal—but not the gold—in the end. Now he has it. In Aachen. He’s practically in St. Peter’s Basilica.

Happy but soaked to the bone, the riders arrived at the press conference shortly before midnight. Aachen’s tournament director, Birgit Rosenberg, had provided towels. “I was the happiest rider in the world as I rode into the course,” said Richard Vogel. “You could tell—that’s why you had those time penalties,” replied national team coach Becker.

A first in history: Going into the final day, two riders are tied for the lead—Steve Guerdat and Daniel Deußer.

Richard Vogel is now 14th in the provisional standings; his elimination from the speed jumping event pushed him back down the rankings. Otherwise, he would be seventh. I ran into Achaz von Buchwaldt at lunch. In his opinion, Richard Vogel and Michael Jung are truly exceptional athletes—“riders of the century; you don’t see someone like that every year,” said the Derby winner, who is still on the road a lot as a trainer. But the “rider of the century” is further behind than Marcus Ehning (fourth) and Sophie Hinners (fifth), who will compete for the style prize after their rounds under the floodlights.

In general, the World Championships are something like a class reunion spanning several generations. Michael Rüping is there, as are Christian Ahlmann and Janne Friederike Meyer-Zimmermann—who is also serving as a TV commentator—the 2010 team world champion. The 2018 world champion, Simone Blum, is explaining the course to a group. Olympic champion Christian Kukuk is doing the same—he’s even put on an iridescent gray suit for the occasion. And Richard Vogel is also finding time to explain the course to people—the very same course he’ll be riding himself in just a few hours. At his first World Championship! Now that’s what I call going the extra mile for the fans.

Today is all about Para medals, and the riders are about to tackle their most spectacular event: the marathon.

What a fitting term. After all, there are quite a few people who are now feeling the last few kilometers in their legs as the World Cup marathon winds down. The motto: Just don’t stop running, or you’ll get cramps. That goes for journalists, too.

Here’s to a banana!

The new podcast episode with wehorse is here—enjoy it—featuring an intern…

On that note—see you tomorrow!

Jan Tönjes

jan.toenjes@equi-pages.de

This is the EQUI PAGES newsletter—published daily from Aachen during the World Equestrian Games

This text was first published on August 22, 2026.

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