There was a bit of head-scratching, some wounded pride, and a healthy dose of genuine disbelief. Rightly or wrongly, few of us ever anticipated sitting down at the end of the day trying to put into words how Team GB found themselves not just out of medal contentionโbut out of the competition entirely.
Perhaps thereโs an element of ego in that. As a nation, weโve been incredibly fortunate to so often find ourselves โin the mixโ at the highest levels of equestrian sport. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, the rug is pulled from beneath our feet. But this is eventingโand if thereโs one thing that defines this sport, itโs unpredictability. There are no guarantees. Sometimes, it simply isnโt your day.
Thankfully, and most importantly, all the riders and horses finished the day fit and healthy. In a sport where risk is ever-present, that remains a cause for gratitude and perspective. Eventing legend William Fox-Pitt, no stranger to the drama of a championship, summed it up succinctly: โ๐๐ฆ๐ญ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ! ๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฏ. ๐๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ธ๐ฆโ๐ท๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ข๐ฎ๐ข๐ป๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ณ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฎ๐ข๐ป๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆโ๐ด ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ.โ
Some may turn to the complexity of the courseโCapt. Mark Phillipsโs technical design, the relentless terrain, the tight optimum timeโand wonder if it was simply too demanding. But there were combinations who managed all those elements with brilliance and composure, showing what was possible with the right blend of preparation, nerve, and a bit of luck. After all, this is a championship and the course should always present a challenge.
Among them, a standout performance came from Calvin Bรถckmann (GER) and The Phantom of the Opera, who delivered the round of the day. They were nothing short of sublime, and they now share fourth place overnight with Austriaโs Lea Siegl.
Team Switzerland’s pathfinder Nadja Minder, aboard Toblerone, showed that a clear round was very much within reachโbar the time penalties. Her fantastic performance propelled her from 32nd all the way up to 13th, a remarkable climb through the leaderboard.
Irelandโs Sarah Ennis turned in a fabulous, accomplished round on Dourough Ferro Class Act, who oozes talent despite his young age. Ian Cassells and Millridge Atlantis, the last combination to leave the start box, delivered when it counted and ended their day in 10th place, boosting Team Ireland into Silver medal position.
Libussa Lรผbbeke (GER) showcased a moment of brilliance at the Subaru Sensation combination at fence 11, where quick thinking ensured she kept her round with Caramia 34 clear. It was a testament to the cool-headed riding needed on such a tough course.
Mรฉlody Johner (SUI) and Erin had a brilliant day, jumping clean and climbing from 18th to 6th overall with their smooth and confident round.
๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐
Despite the team elimination, Britainโs Laura Collett and London 52 now have a first individual championship title firmly within their sights. The pair delivered a superb cross-country performance, powering across the influential course with precision and boldness. Their round, the second-fastest of the day, incurred just six time penalties and was enough to snatch the individual lead from none other than Germanyโs triple European champion, Michael Jung.
Jung, ever the threat, now sits in second with 10 time penaltiesโstill within a show jumping fence of Collett. Meanwhile, Tom McEwen and JL Dublin remain firmly in the hunt, currently holding the bronze medal position with 6.8 cross-country time penalties.
But heartbreak struck the British camp as the team was eliminated from the competition following rider falls from Yasmin Ingham (Rehy DJ) and Piggy March (Halo). In an extraordinarily unlucky day, Britainโs two individual ridersโCaroline Harris (D. Day) and Bubby Upton (Itโs Cooley Time)โalso suffered falls, compounding the national disappointment.
Laura Collett admitted to a nerve-racking wait after completing her round, knowing the fate of her teammates and fellow individuals.
โ๐๐ตโ๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ข ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ,โ she said. โ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ด ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ, ๐ข๐ด ๐ฆ๐น๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ต๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฏ 52 ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ต ๐จ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏโ๐ต ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ช๐ต๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ. ๐๐ฆโ๐ท๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ด๐ถ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฑ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ณ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฎ๐ข๐ป๐ช๐ฏ๐จ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ต ๐จ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ. ๐โ๐ฎ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ช๐ต๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ฆ๐น๐ค๐ช๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ธ [๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ซ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ๐ฆ] ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฆ.โ
๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐
Germany, ever the powerhouse, now enjoys a comfortable nine-fence margin in the team standings after a day full of drama and surprise exits. With all four of their team riders delivering clear rounds, Germanyโs consistency once again shone through. As European champions in 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2019, theyโve reasserted themselves as the team to beat.
Michael Jung remains focused on a record fourth individual European title. โ๐๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐บ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ค๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐ถ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐๐ข๐ถ๐ณ๐ข,โ he said.
Paying tribute to his longtime partner fischerChipmunk FRH, he added: โ๐๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ฎ๐ข๐ป๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐จ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ซ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ด๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ. ๐๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ข ๐ฃ๐ช๐ต โ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐บโ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ช๐ณ๐ด๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ๐น ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ง๐ถ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ณ๐ฐ๐ด๐ด-๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ต๐ณ๐บ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ. ๐๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ง๐ฆ๐ค๐ต ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ถ๐ค๐ฌ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ด๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ.โ
๐๐๐๐โ๐ ๐๐๐๐
As we head into the show jumping finale, all eyes will be on the top three individualsโLaura Collett, Michael Jung, and Tom McEwenโas they battle for the podium. With fewer than 2 penalties between the top two, the pressure is immense. Meanwhile, nations like Ireland, Switzerland, and Austria will look to capitalise on the gaps left by the British team’s shock exit.
Itโs been a day of triumphs, trials, and reminders that in eventing, nothing is ever certain. But thatโs exactly what makes it such a compelling sport. Tomorrow promises more excitementโand perhaps, more surprises.
