The Irish team was unbeatable today in the fight for team medals at the FEI European Championships for Ponies. Silver went to Great Britain and bronze – to France.
It was an emotional day at Strzegom. The team medals were uncertain until the last ride. Two jump offs had to happen to determine the bronze and gold winning teams.
Germany and France fought for the bronze. The two teams had the same score of 4 points in the jump-off, so it was the time that determined that France stood on the lowest step of the podium.
The Irish competed in the following squad: John Mcentee, Niamh Mcevoy, Tom Wachman and his brother Max Wachman. They had a hard nut to crack in the jump-off, as the British were a fast opponent, and they also had their eyes set on the prize.
„Very fast jump off, the course was big, the English were very hard to beat, so it made it difficult for us” – said Tom Wachman.
„The English looked very fast, so I was just cheering for my team, hoping they will gallop fast enough and jump clear” – said Francis Derwin, who did not compete today, but helped his teammates in the first class of the championships yesterday.
The time of the Irish team, that was 1,72 seconds faster than Great Britain’s, decided about their win.
Eventing
The eventing dressage trials ended on Friday. The current leaders, with the score of 88,4 are from team Great Britain. Second place for now belongs to France and third – to Germany. 7 teams are competing overall.
German athlete Sophia Rössel with Camillo We performer the best individual test with the result of 25,4. The only Polish rider of the class – Julia Witkowska riding Chester, is currently in the 36th position.
Photo by Mariusz Chmieliński
