Sister duo win freestyle gold and silver
Bronze again to Anna Raben from Denmark
It was a cracker at the end: sisters Lana-Pinou and Lucie-Anouk Baumgürtel secured the gold and silver medals in the freestyle at the FEI European Dressage Championships for Young Riders at the Schafhof in Kronberg.
A pair of siblings at the top - this has only happened once before in the 52-year history of the European Young Rider Championships. In 2005, Jessica and her brother Benjamin Werndl took the top two places on the European Championship podium.
With a personal best of 80.120 per cent, 19-year-old Lana-Pinou won the gold medal in the freestyle on ZINQ Emma FH NRW, followed by 21-year-old Lucia-Anouk on ZINQ Hugo FH with 76.580 percentage points. Bronze went to Denmark's Anna Teibel Raben with Sparaday and 76.490 per cent.
More is not possible: Lana-Pinou returns home from her first European Championships in the young riders' camp with three gold medals: "I still can't believe it," said the three-time European Champion herself in amazement. "I think it will take a little longer. I'm over the moon. I would never have expected this, especially today with my new freestyle, but it was just so much fun." She particularly enjoyed the last trot lines in her freestyle with strong trot and traversals. "Those are simply Emma's highlights, she gives it her all again. That's the best feeling you can have."
Lucia-Anouk competed in the freestyle with her Hugo as the defending champion and secured silver this time with last year's winning freestyle. "That was our last Young Rider Euro. Hugo felt great, I can always rely on him. He's my reliance and medal pony (laughs). I'm just super grateful, he always gives everything for me and has a heart of gold."
Like the winner, Anna Teibel Raben and Sparaday also competed a new freestyle, making one mistake in the canter changes to four jumps, which they were then able to perform faultlessly on their second attempt: Bronze!
The first eight places in the freestyle were dominated by three nations: Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands - and they came up trumps: with really good and fine riding and with plenty of still young horses. The future should look bright and interesting.
The conclusion of EM boss Matthias Alexander Rath
Memories that last
"Of course, the sport has taken centre stage over the past five days of the European Championships here at the Schafhof, but I have to admit that I really enjoyed the opening ceremony the most, especially the Nations Evening on Thursday. Of course it's all about the competition and the medals, but when you saw how people celebrated together and had fun - and everything mixed together, across all national borders, the riders with the judges and trainers. That was even more important and beautiful for me than anything else. You also have to remember that there are many more participants who go home without a medal than with one, but they all have these memories. People got to know each other, friends were made and memories were created. That remains.
Two years ago, we had the children and juniors here for the European Championships, and the Nations Evening was sensational. Back then, we mainly attributed that to the youth. But this time we have the young riders and U25 riders, so the gap to the seniors isn't that far and yet: you probably wouldn't be able to do that at a senior championship, but maybe you should just give it a try. It would be very good for the sport and, despite all the current discussions, also for the team spirit. In any case, this evening was incredibly enjoyable.
"This is a sign"
About the sport: The standard of the U25 riders was incredible. You can already say that, even if the freestyle is still to come. There were some riders competing here who could go straight into any international senior Grand Prix and come out with good points. We saw many technically good rounds, but also high-quality horses.
Let's look specifically at the successes of the German riders, which was enormous: both gold medals in the team competition, and so far all the gold medals in the individual competition and the freestyle - we still have to wait for the U25 freestyle. Plus two silver medals. That's a sign! The results for the young riders were a little more 'varied', even the team decision was a little closer... But that also shows that the overall standard is very high, even among the other nations.
A look into the future
A brief look into the future: We have decided that we do not want to continue to hold a dressage tournament at the Schafhof every year. With Hamburg, Donaueschingen and Frankfurt, we now have three major events in Germany and a few more projects in the pipeline - we want to join forces for these events. Another European Championships for Young Riders at the Schafhof is not yet planned, but I could definitely see it happening again at some point. The experiences for the young people are so important and help to promote the sport - that's really close to my heart and gives us all, the whole Schafhof team, a lot of pleasure.