New Zealander Tim Price said it had “not sunk in” that he and his team had won bronze eventing World Championships medals. Tim and Falco jumped clear inside the time on Sunday (18 September) to finish on their dressage score of 26.2.
“It has not sunk in… this is not a position the Kiwis have been used to being in for some time,” said Tim. “Andrew Nicholson came up and said ‘You guys waited long enough for that, well done’, but [they are] just amazing, this team.
“We’ve had a great week, we’ve all stayed very solid. And what a finish. What a horse.”
Tim said he and his team have “always had faith in [Falco] from the start”; this is his first championship, but he and Tim won Millstreet CCI4*-L last year, then went on to win Pau five-star last October. They also finished fourth at the Nations Cup, also the test event, in Pratoni del Vivaro in May this year.
“He’s always been an out and out jumper but to get him to Sunday, so you can demonstrate that and have it in a useful way, is just incredible,” Tim said.
Asked what the result means to him, Tim added: “It’s everyone. We’ve worked so hard for this. We’ve focused on this for years, this kind of major event with the team behind, and with a nation behind you, it means absolutely everything.”
Tim and Falco finished 0.2 penalties behind Germany’s Julia Krajewski and Amande De B’Neville, who took the individual silver eventing World Championships medal. The new world champion is Britain’s Yasmin Ingham. Tim’s score was equal to that of Ros Canter and Lordships Graffalo, but Tim was placed higher as he was closer to the optimum cross-country time yesterday, meaning Ros and “Walter” finished fourth.
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