Olympic champion unbeatable in Wiesbaden

Teddy had given everything! Teddy is Julia Krajewski's dog, who - of course - was present at the cross-country walk and in the water obstacle... "...extensively dived and examined the ground," laughs the winner. "So the ground was great!" She says a little more seriously: "It was our first real cross-country lap since Tokyo and I don't want to say that I was 'tense', but of course you're a bit tense. How's that going now? I think Mandy would have wished that she could just gallop straight ahead for two minutes. She was a bit surprised when it suddenly went right and left. But then found herself super, from jump five or six, and had a great rhythm.” At the award ceremony, the twelve-year-old looked so fit and happy, as if she would like to start again in the cross-country. “Wiesbaden was our starting shot towards the World Championships, then Aachen and Haras du Pin are also planned. And if everything works out, the World Cup will come in September.”

Julia Krajewski competed in Wiesbaden for the ninth time and won the Prof. Heicke Family Prize for the second time. Mandy is an Olympic champion but hasn't seen that many spectators due to the pandemic, says the winner. That was also a reason to bring them to the start in Wiesbaden. "But that didn't bother her at all, she's pretty mellow."

National trainer Peter Thomsen, on site for the first time in this function, previously regularly competing as a rider in Wiesbaden since 1998, was extremely satisfied: "A compliment to the entire development team around Rüdiger Schwarz. This was a challenging course that required accurate riding at every turn. And the horses and riders in which I placed my hopes fully fulfilled that.”

Hardly anyone beamed like Prof Dr. Bernd Heicke, the sponsor of the test as well as the U25 classification and the owner of the winning horse. "It's hard to describe how I feel right now. I am indeed proud, but because I feel that I have the smallest share in the success, I feel above all great joy that the person (Julia Krajewski) and also the horse (Amande de B'Neville) are so good fit together and are so successful. That is very nice."

Michael Jung and Highlighter were the only couple who stayed within the allotted time at the Wiesbaden cross-country course. After the dressage in second place, slipped to third place due to a drop in jumping, the two have moved back to second place with their sensational cross-country round. "I'm super happy with second place and with the development of Highlighter," stressed Jung. “It was really fun in the field today. I know Wiesbaden well, I've ridden here a few times. The atmosphere is fantastic, it was beautifully set up and the audience is huge here.” Wiesbaden was the fourth tournament this year for the eleven-year-old highlighter at three or four-star level, he was second twice and won twice. "The highlighter should now be the German championship in Luhmühlen in two weeks." For the third time in Wiesbaden, Jérôme Robiné, who was born in Darmstadt, won the U25 eventing prize in the saddle of Brave Heart with 39.8 penalty points, which meant fourth place in the overall ranking. “It didn't start that well because Brave Heart lost an iron right before obstacle five in the backcountry. You can tell that as a rider, but then came the ditches, they went really well, after that I was very confident.” Thomsen also signaled satisfaction: “With Jérôme, things are steadily going uphill. I could imagine that if things continue like this, the European Championships next year are a real goal for him.” Everything was reflected in Albert Schäfer, who is responsible for eventing in Wiesbaden: joy, contentment, pride and also a bit of exhaustion. “200 people were active in the background for eventing, more than any other discipline, but when you then experience this kind of sport, every effort was absolutely worth it. I'm almost in tears, it was so nice today.” With 10,000 people in the park and another 6,000 to 7,000 in the stadium, the backdrop was huge. "Today was a wonderful equestrian day and the best advertisement for our sport." Australian victory with 'red wine'
"It's like red wine - it just gets better with age." And the first tears started to fall, Kristy Oatley was so touched by her 18-year-old partner Du Soleil. With 71.848 percent, the two won the Grand Prix of the Freestyle Tour, the prize of the Liselott and Klaus Rheinberger Foundation. Kristy Oatley has lived near Hamburg for many years, but continues to compete for her native Australia. Second place went to Belgium in this four-star Grand Prix. Laurence Vanommeslaghe and Edison received 71.261 percent, local hero Anja Plönzke and Tannenhof's Fahrenheit finished third with 70.478 percent.

"He's a little rocket at home", the Australian winner describes her De Niro son, "often uncontrollable, but at the tournament he knows his job. He knows that, then he pulls himself together and is fully concentrated.” Oatley has been to the Olympic Games four times, the last time in 2016 in Rio with Du Soleil. The World Championships are coming up in August this year. "If I aim for the World Cup, then with Du Soleil," she explains. "But I don't know that yet." He will decide whether, at his mature age, he still wants to go to the World Cup or not. And Oatley's tears are rolling again for her longtime partner.

Kristy Oatley knows the castle park and the floodlight freestyle well, she won Quando-Quando here in 2007 with her future Olympic partner from Hong Kong. But it will be a first for Du Soleil. "He's been here in the castle park before, but he's never walked under floodlights in his life. It will be very interesting tomorrow evening," she says, smiling and looking forward to the freestyle to the music of her favorite series 'Game of Thrones'. With Anja Plönzke, however, she will meet a sworn freestyle specialist, she has also won the floodlight freestyle in Wiesbaden before, that was in 2010 in the saddle of Le Mont d'Or.

"There are a few tournaments a year that I really enjoy," explains Kristy Oatley. "Wiesbaden is definitely one of them."