World Vaulting Championships: Gold for the German team and Alice Leyer in the women's competition, bronze for Bela Lehnen in the men's competition, and more

A neck-and-neck race for the women’s World Championship gold

Layher or Meyer? The 2026 World Championships were a tough competition between the two best German vaulters, Alice Layher (24) and Kathrin Meyer (25). In the compulsory routine, Layher held the lead on her 19-year-old Württemberger mare FBW Candy (lunged by Daniel Zembrot). In the technical routine, she was overtaken by the successful trio of Kathrin Meyer, Capitaine Claus, and Gesa Bührig. However, Layher’s lead from the compulsory routine was so large that she took the lead in the interim standings, which are calculated by adding the scores from the compulsory and technical routines and dividing by two. Today brought the showdown in the freestyle—who would win? Layher, who is at the peak of her career, or three-time World Cup champion Kathrin Meyer, who is concluding her career in Aachen after eleven years at the top level, both in the team and as an individual vaulter?

The two of them kept us on the edge of our seats. As national team coach Kai Vorberg said, “It’s rare to see performances like this, where they all give it their absolute all in the freestyle routine.” But in the end, it’s almost impossible to score lower than a 10. And that was the artistic score Alice Layher received today for her routine. With an incredible total score of 9.041, she not only left Meyer behind in the free routine but also claimed her first world championship title. She was left somewhat speechless herself: “I can’t even describe it—I feel completely overwhelmed.”

Kathrin Meyer, on the other hand, scored an 8.862 and capped off her illustrious career with a silver medal: “It was overwhelming—I didn’t make a single mistake. I’m very proud of the routine I performed today and over the last two days. My team supported me so well; Capi (Captain Claus OLD) did such great rounds, and I’m just grateful to have been able to experience this.”

To cap off Germany’s success, Annemie Szemes, riding Rubinio on the lunge with Nina Vorberg, also took bronze. After finishing “only” fourth and sixth in the compulsory and technical tests, she had to step it up today—and she succeeded: a third-place finish with a score of 8.814 in the freestyle brought her total to 8.436.

“I’ve always had a hunch that Annemie could also deliver a very, very good free skate, but for it to go so smoothly and be so harmonious—for all three girls. That their free programs went almost exactly as planned—that nothing was left out or toned down, but was simply executed to the end—and that it all came together so harmoniously and exactly as intended—that’s something that happens very rarely. And you don’t even dare to hope that on a day like today, at a World Championship in Aachen, it would actually work out that way. “I’ve always dreamed of it a little, but never really dared to hope for it,” said an enthusiastic national team coach Kai Vorberg, who himself became world champion here in Aachen 20 years ago.

B for Bela, B for Bronze

The men’s competition featured a duel similar to the women’s, pitting top French vaulting rider Quentin Jabet—who had previously won at the CHIO in Aachen—against Dutch rider Sam dos Santos. In the end, Jabet on Estado IFCE, lunged by Loic Devedu, came out on top with a total score of 8.794. Sam dos Santos on Hero, lunged by Amy dos Santos, scored 8.508—taking silver.

And Bela Lehnen took home the bronze with Max, lunged by Sarah Krauss. They earned a total score of 8.448. The 21-year-old from Cologne struggled to find the words: “It’s just amazing. I can’t even begin to describe how I feel. So much has happened in the last few weeks and months. That’s why I’m just so grateful to be here. That it all worked out and that I even ended up with a medal—it’s unbelievable.” National team coach Kai Vorberg doesn’t see it that way: “If you ride three clean rounds, you’re definitely in the running for a medal.”

Jannik Heiland, who stepped in as a replacement, finished in seventh place, bringing his career—no less long and glamorous than Kathrin Meyer’s—to a close. He was happy nonetheless: “I dedicated my free skate music to my lunge leader, Lars Hansen. I competed in my first individual championship with him in 2009, and today I rode my final individual round with him—so the circle is complete. It was very emotional for me. A tear or two definitely fell.”

Today marked the swan song for another vaulting rider: Thomas Brüsewitz. The five-time Aachen champion had probably imagined his final freestyle routine differently. He slipped during his routine. It was a bitter moment. In the end, he finished 13th.

Gold for the GER Group

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” Once again, VV Köln Dünnwald was the group chosen to represent Germany at the championship. And for good reason. The team led by lunge leader Alexandra Knauf—featuring Gianna Ronja, Philip Goroncy, Larina Herbertz, Yara Jolie Scheel, Fabio Ring, and Bela Lehnen—was unbeatable, both in the compulsory routine and the freestyle. And so they confidently took gold ahead of France and Austria.

The horse that Köln rides is Ecuador NRW. He began his career as an auction horse owned by Stephan Borgmann.