While it was never doubted that Martin Hölle of Hungary would win his fifth consecutive Horse Pairs World Championship in Beekbergen, The Netherlands, especially after his exceptional turns in the Dressage and Marathon. It wasn’t such a certainty that the Hungarian team would take home its seventh consecutive gold, but despite the pre-event promise of a close contest with other nations, Team Hungary’s total of 286.61 made them undisputed winners by 19.05 points.
Tor Van Den Berge represents Australia on the world stage
Australia’s sole entrant, Tor Van Den Berge, finished on a total of 178.67 to place 45th overall from over 80 combinations with Leo Van Der Burgt’s 11-year-old KWPN geldings Jaquar and Jayton, and nine-year-old KWPN gelding Lars VS.
Following a score of 55.39 in the Dressage with Jayton and Lars VS, Van Den Berge scored 110.28 in the Marathon with Jaquar and Jayton, and 13 in the Cones with Jayton and Lars VS.
Three-time team gold medallist
Martin Hölle’s teammates György Fekete Jr., now a three-time team gold medallist, and first timer Marcell Dani, rose to the occasion to help clinch Hungary’s eleventh Horse Pairs team gold, one they first won in 1989. Undoubtedly helped by Martin’s results, the remaining two lowest scores that were counted from each of the three phases came from Marcell after the Dressage and Marathon, and György’s after the Cones.
Last to drive on Sunday afternoon, Martin had such a huge margin between him and the rest of the field that he could afford to gently steer his combo of Eppie and Juventus, his Dressage pair, smoothly through Johan Jacobs’ tricky course. With only 7.64 in time penalties, his total of 131.19 ensured that he achieved his goal of another individual gold medal to add to the four he has won since 2017. As he crossed the finish line the crowd erupted, appreciating that they had seen yet another historic turn from the maestro.
“The horses gave their absolute best for me – it was a dream come true!” said Martin Hölle.
British are the best of the rest
As the event unfolded, questions were asked about who would take the remaining podium places after the Hungarians. Marcel Luder briefly reignited Swiss medal hopes when he produced the only double clear Cones round to win the phase, but it wasn’t enough to recreate his double silvers from two years ago in Haras du Pin, France.
Starting the day in sixth place, Roger Campbell of Great Britain may have been quietly confident, but he still had to get past some strong opposition. Driving in the last group on Sunday afternoon, he calmly piloted his home-produced pair, Kensington and Magic Morgan, through the twists and turns of the course, and only incurred 2.13 time penalties, which put him temporarily in the lead on 151.31.
Roger then had to sit back and watch those after him, including medal contenders Anna Sandmann of Germany and Jacob Arnold of the USA, but they tallied too many penalties to stay in contention. Also driving after Roger was his teammate, former FEI Pony Pair World Champion Tara Wilkinson of Great Britain, who had an unlucky ball at the final oxer number twenty. That put her on 154.35 to finish fourth overall and gave the British a total of 305.66, which sealed their podium finish, and ultimately, a silver medal.
Dutch dreams also kept alive
Another who drove towards the end was world number one, Stan Van Eijk of The Netherlands who was in third overnight. He incurred only time penalties, but they amounted to 5.76 which gave him a total of 151.59 and a bronze medal – only 0.31 behind Roger.
Ensuring that there would be Dutch drivers on the podium, Stan’s round met with cheers from the crowd, and excitement from his support crew in the family and friends viewing area. Going one better than the individual and team fourths in Haras du Pin two years ago, he had also helped seal the host nation’s team bronze on 311.30, aided by Dutch riders Rens Egberink and Erik Evers.
Germany will have been frustrated by disappointing Cones rounds which pushed them down the order into fourth on 312.81, sentiments surely shared by the Swiss, who ended in fifth on 318.37. Both nations had arrived in Beekbergen with aspirations of team and individual medals to add to their extensive collections.
The Polish squad continued to defy the odds when Aleksander Fularczyk of Poland equalled the second he’d achieved on Saturday’s Marathon in the Cones with only 1.91 penalties, which propelled the team into sixth place, ahead of Austria.
A lasting legacy
There were joyous scenes in the silvery arena at Beekbergen during the award ceremony, which included a special celebration for the owner of the Riant Centre, Meike van Tergouw of The Netherlands. Surrounded by her family, she was serenaded by a singer and shown a film montage that commemorated her 1995 World Championship Horse Pairs win. The event was officially closed by Joaquin Medina of Spain, Chair of the FEI Driving Committee.
Most of all, having attracted large crowds by providing opportunities for family-orientated entertainment, the organisers enabled people of all ages to enjoy the horse sport in a relaxed and welcoming setting. It was a triumph of international collaboration and will ensure that the ‘Beekbergen World Championship’ is remembered for a long time, not just for Hungarian successes and records, but for bringing Driving to a broader audience.
Source: FEI press release by Sarah Dance, edited by Equestrian Life.
