Anna Schölermann is European champion!
Silver goes to Moritz Treffinger, bronze to Sara Hyrm from Denmark
It was a very long nail-biting ride at the FEI European Dressage Championships for U25 riders at the Schafhof in Kronberg. At 9.09 a.m. on Friday morning, Moritz Treffinger rode into the European Championships arena for the individual decision, the Prize of Emil Frey Avalon Premium Cars Kronberg. 26 hours and 46 minutes later it was clear: it's the silver medal! His two medallists didn't have to wait quite as long, as they only competed on day two of the individual competition.
And this is the European Championship result in the U25 riders' individual competition: Gold for Anna Schölermann and Springborgs Guardian with 74.718 percentage points, silver for Moritz Treffinger and Cadeau Noir with 73.025 and bronze for Denmark's Sara Aagaard Hyrm in the saddle on Atterupgaards Cooper with 73.00 percentage points. All three medallists achieved a new personal best at the Schafhof.
A total of 44 U25 riders competed for the medals. For the third time in the ten-year history of the U25 European Championships - after 2016 and 2021 - the German riders succeeded in winning the gold and silver medals in the individual classification. The joy was immense, tears flowed, not least because the young Danish rider thwarted the dream of a complete German podium with a great ride just before the end. Sara Hyrm was the 39th rider to enter the arena with Cooper and finished just ahead of Felicitas Hendricks and Drombusch, who had been in bronze until then. "I'm so incredibly proud," said the 24-year-old Sara, stunned. "I can't believe what just happened in the arena. Cooper just felt fantastic." Felicitas Hendricks, the 2023 European Champion, slipped to a thankless fourth place:
"It really was one long nail-biter," admitted the 25-year-old. "We sat in the stable lane with the whole team and watched the competition. Of course I was briefly disappointed, but I'm just proud of Drombusch and am now looking forward to the freestyle tomorrow."
All three of the riders on the podium already have championship experience. Anna Schölermann already celebrated team gold with Bon Scolari in 2024, but this gold medal is her first individual medal. Moritz Treffinger and Cadeau Noir were Anna Schölermann's gold medallists last year. In 2024, Moritz secured team gold as well as individual bronze with the stallion from Bonhomme Stud.
The 22-year-old has already enjoyed total success in 2018: three gold medals at the European Pony Championships in the saddle of Top Queen H. And Sara Hyrm took part in her first European Championships back in 2015, when she was still a pony rider. The young Dane has taken part in a total of ten European Championships to date, with the Kronberg European Championships being her eleventh. This bronze medal is the second for Sara, she won her first in 2017 in the pony freestyle with Der Harlekin.
And this is how European champion Anna Schölermann experienced her victory:
"Before my start today, I had about the 24 worst hours of my life," explains the 23-year-old with a smile. It was around 24 hours from the start of the competition to her start time. "I think I kept my nerves under control quite well, but it was exhausting." The rider from Hubertus Schmidt's stables had already made her mark in the team competition with the best score of all the U25 riders. "That put me in a tiny little role as favourite today. I've never experienced that before. Unbelievable. Watching the others do great rounds, who rode really well and really deserved their points - that was really special." She knew she had to deliver another top round, just like in the team test, and then she would have the chance to get to the front. "That was a different kind of pressure." She hadn't travelled to Kronberg with the idea of getting anywhere near the individual medals.
Her thoughts were 'really wild' during the test. "The walk-in was okay, but not mega, trot reinforcement was great and then came the traversal. I concentrated so much on making sure he didn't tip over that I didn't really ride sideways at first. As a result, the first bit wasn't steep enough and I really had to make sure I got over the others." After that, she rode through the corner and thought: 'Anna, pull yourself together now! That worked. "In the end, I was so happy that he went such a great test again and didn't put a foot wrong. I am incredibly proud of Guardian's development here this week. He really didn't go well at the training camp in Warendorf, that wasn't 'his location'. But here he got better every day, it's his first championship and we've been travelling for ten days in total, but he's getting better and better. That's amazing for me!"
The final round of the European Championships starts on Sunday. The best 18 riders in the individual competition will compete for the third set of medals - a first for Anna Schölermann and Springborg's Guardian. "I will be riding the former Grönemeyer freestyle by Hubertus (Schmidt) and Wansuela Suerte for the first time. That fits!"