Four More Medals for Young German Dressage Riders in the Individual Events at the European Championships in Olomouc

It was already clear at the Future Champions in Hagen that Sandra Sysojeva’s daughter, Emilija Rucinskaite (BEL)—who is not quite 13 yet—and her stylish KWPN gelding, Nice Guy, would be the pair to beat this weekend at the European Children’s Championships in Olomouc, was already evident at the Future Champions in Hagen, where they won all three classes, the last one with a score of over 80 percent. They continued that momentum over the past few days in Olomouc.

They won both the European Championship warm-up test and the individual portion of the team event with scores of over 80 percent in each, and today they took it up a notch in the individual event: 83.215, 90.750 percent for seat, influence, precision of riding, and overall impression, along with technical scores ranging from 74.074 to 77.778 percent. With this, following her silver medal with the Belgian team, she claimed her first gold medal at the European Junior Championships today—and it likely won’t be her last.

Silver and Bronze for Germany

Linda Schuchmann and her Fürstenball-bred son, Figo de Halliers, started the weekend in second place and finished it as the second-best pair in this year’s Children’s European Championships: silver with 79.357 percent.

Cecilia Marie Hohl and her Oldenburg mare Saluna W OLD, on the other hand, staged a remarkable comeback: from 17th place in the preliminary class to fourth place in the team standings and onto the individual podium with their best result of the weekend—78.491 percent. Bronze!

Junior Free Skating – Two More Medals

In Olomouc, toward the end of the juniors’ freestyle routine, the sky decided that nature needed a little water again—just as Clara Kohoutek and Dark Dancer were in the arena and had already begun their routine. Suddenly, a storm broke out. The letters toppled over, the sky grew increasingly overcast, spectators fled the stands in a panic, and the competition was interrupted. Then the wind died down, but the rain set in. But eventually, it was Clara and Dark Dancer’s turn. It was pouring down; there was no longer any question of equal conditions. But yesterday’s two winners bravely defied the weather, performing a fantastic trot sequence with countless half-voltes, traverses, and shoulder-in. Even at a canter, they executed most elements in beautiful harmony, with very even, confident contact and strong hind legs. Only one change wouldn’t work, so Clara had to pull back once. But all in all, it was a beautiful freestyle routine that was scored at 78.030 percent.

However, as she rode out of the arena, the 17-year-old already looked as if she knew it wouldn’t be enough to beat her toughest competitor from Denmark, Ida Bøllingtoft Asmussen, riding Gozzip, a daughter of Sezuan. She was right. Ida and her elegant mare had previously had a truly stellar performance, which was scored at a new personal best of 78.610 percent and ultimately earned them the gold medal.

Bronze and More

Greta Louise Wagner and Vanessa H were called up to the team as alternates and finished the weekend as the second-best pair on the German squad, winning two individual bronze medals in addition to the gold medal in the team competition. Today in the free skate, the pair celebrated a new personal best with a score of 76.20 percent.

The rankings from the individual event remained unchanged beyond that as well – Fourth place went to Ulf Möller’s Italian student Matteo Borghesi riding Incognito (76.035), followed by Birte Niessing on Destino (75.795), who had also originally been designated only as alternates.

You can find all the results here.