Voter falls off horse, German medal dream bursts
The dream of Olympic gold in Versailles shatters early for the German Eventing Team. As the second German rider, Christoph Wahler fell with Carjatan in the arena and was eliminated. The German team, which was in second place before the arena, received 200 penalty points and fell significantly in the ranking.
The dream of Olympic gold in Versailles was shattered early for the German Eventing Team. As the second German rider, Christoph Wahler fell with Carjatan in the arena and was therefore eliminated. In the team standings, the German team, which was in second place before the arena behind Great Britain, received 200 penalty points and fell significantly in the ranking. Wahler could be replaced by Calvin Boehckmann as an alternate in jumping on Monday, but this would result in an additional 20 penalty points.
Wahler was unable to provide a clear explanation for the fall. "Somehow Carjatan's hind leg got into the ditch and that interrupted the gallop jump, causing me to be thrown out of the saddle," he said. He had previously "had no feeling at all that something was wrong" before the jump.
As the first rider, Julia Krajewski completed the Versailles Eventing Course without faults. However, she missed the given time of 9:02 minutes by 12 seconds and received 4.8 penalty points for it. Her total score is 31.70 penalty points.
"First place isn't really my favorite place," Krajewski said, overall she was very satisfied with her performance: "I thought if you were riding Mandy (her Olympic gold medal horse Amande de B'Neville) right now, she would just take you with her, but okay, then I'll just ride Nickel instead. And he did great."
Michael Jung sets the final point with Chipmunk (13:42), who has great medal chances in the individual standings with a fault-free ride. The Eventing Course in the Versailles Palace Gardens is 5149 meters long and includes 28 complexes of obstacles with a total of 45 jumps.
Despite the setbacks, the German team remains hopeful for the Olympic Games 2024 in Paris. Calvin Boehckmann might step in for Wahler in the jumping event, but this could result in additional penalties.
The German team's disappointing performance in the current Olympic Games might inspire them to train even harder for their chance at redemption at the Olympic Games 2024 in Paris.
