Michael Jung and Chipmunk Take Third Place; Team Germany Ranks Second After the World Dressage and Eventing Championships in Aachen

The World Championships in Aachen mark the eighth championship of Michael Jung’s career riding Chipmunk, the sixth with Michael Jung in the saddle, and his third World Championships. At his first—Tryon 2018—his trainer, Julia Krajewski, was still riding him. In six of these competitions, Chipmunk led the field after the dressage. Expectations for the pair were correspondingly high today as they were the last of the four German pairs to enter the grass arena in Aachen’s nearly packed Stadium 2.

A minor coordination issue, a costly mistake

The 18-year-old veteran and the three-time Olympic champion got off to a great start, with highlights including their side movements. When holding the position in front of the judges, Chipmunk first came to a stop on all four feet, but then took one more step and tilted slightly behind the vertical during the backward hold. In the walk-around, he was a bit restless in his contact. But those were all minor issues. The second change on the diagonal proved to be the real setback, as a minor communication issue caused Chipmunk to briefly raise his hindquarters.

All in all, the pair still posted a strong score of 23 penalty points, placing them third behind overnight leader Julia Krajewski (22.0) and European champion Laura Collett riding London (22.8). The third-best German pair is Malin Hansen-Hotopp and Quidditch K in eleventh place. Individual rider Christoph Wahler is currently ranked 19th with D’Accord. Libussa Lübbeke and Caramia are in 28th place.

Michael Jung – “Really happy with Chipmunk”

Of course, Michael Jung wasn’t 100 percent satisfied. “I don’t think we’ve ever had a missed transition before. Or at least not in recent years.” Still, he was pleased with his performance: “He delivered a great dressage performance. I’m really happy with how he responded to my riding and how he performed. Sure, that big mistake on the second-to-last transition—it wasn’t as smooth as I’d imagined. It’s always a bit more difficult on a grass arena, especially with the atmosphere here all week. Still, I’m really happy and satisfied. It’s still a good result, and now the goal is to try not to make so many mistakes anymore.”

Also: The one time Chipmunk didn’t lead the dressage competition was the only time he won a championship—when he became the Olympic champion in Paris in 2024 …

Team Standings

: Following Michael Jung, Rosalind Canter and Lordships Graffalo—also among the favorites—competed for the British team. They, too, did not emerge unscathed from the arena today, as they also made a mistake during the flying changes. With 23.4 penalty points, they finished in fourth place.

So it’s clear: Great Britain leads the team standings with 72.8 penalty points. Germany is on track for silver with 73.6 penalty points. France currently holds the bronze position with 84.5 penalty points. But everyone knows that this doesn’t mean much yet.

Laura Collett summed it up: “We can celebrate for five minutes now—but then it’s full focus on tomorrow!” Then it’s off to the cross-country course (here’s a detailed assessment by cross-country coach Andreas Dibwoski) And British team manager Richard Waygood added: “Holy moly, that’s a tough course. The direct routes are truly 4* plus plus. The riders really have to be smart and know their horses well.”

You can find all the results here.