The fact, that Gerco Schröder, the last rider, riding the stallion Eurocommerce Berlin, got 8 penalty points and, thus, put a little spot on the clean record of his team, was not important in the end. With a total result of 7,37 penalty points, which were all made in the „Against the clock“ class in the Deutsche Bank Preis on Wednesday, Schröder, Zoer, Jeroen Dubbeldam and Vincent Voorn sovereignly prevailed in the end and were celebrated by 9.000 spectators in the MVV riding stadium. From the hands of HRH Princess Haya Bint al Hussein, the FEI President, the team of Rob Ehrens, the Chef d’équipe, could receive the EC gold medals, after having been successful in the team competition of the WEG in 2006. “We had a really good feeling”, Albert Zoer described the situation before the decisive round. “Everything was just perfect. The horses had performed really well from the first day, and it became better and better everyday.” However, added Jeroen Dubbeldam, the Olympic winner from 2000, the situation demanded the highest concentration. “There was a lot of pressure on all of us, as all top riders were very close together after the first round.”

The emotional state of the host team was between hope and tremble for a long time. Marcus Ehning, whose horse Nolte’s Küchengirl had again refused the first jump of the triple combination and was eliminated, was again the tragic figure of the German team. Whilst his three team colleagues had been able to correct the mishap of the man from Borken with three clear rides in the first round on Thursday, the second German starter, Christian Ahlmann (Marl), the double European Champion from 2003, had one penalty point this time. Thus, the team of Kurt Gravemeier, the federal coach, was already behind the Dutch team after the first half and was afraid of loosing a medal. However, with two brilliant clear rounds, Meredith Michaels Beerbaum (Thedinghausen) on Shutterfly and Ludger Beerbaum, the first of the world ranking list, who is starting for the Reiter-Verein Mannheim, on Goldfever, provided the big relief and the second position. “This silver medal means 100% today, especially, if we look at the differences. There were less than two time faults, which were decisive in the end. And under these conditions, silver has been the absolute maximum”, Ludger Beerbaum was very pleased with the result of the German team. And Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum, his sister-in-law, added: “It was obvious today, that horses aren’t machines”. And for that reason, we are very, very proud of our silver medals.”

In the end, Great Britain with Michael Whitaker on Suncal Portofino, David McPherson on Pilgrim II, Ellen Whitaker on Locarno and John Whitaker on Peppermill won the bronce medal and sent off the Swiss team, which had been on the third position for a very long time, to the fourth place. This was a very special gift for the team around Derek Ricketts, especially for David McPherson, the South African, on his 47th birthday. However, the Swiss can still hope to win a medal, as Christina Liebherr is still in the lead of the individual ranking after two clear rounds in the Preis von MVV Energie, followed by Ludger Beerbaum (1,11) and Meredith Michaels Beerbaum (1,54).

Quelle: mps-agentur
Photos: www.reitsportfotos.eu