The German dressage and showjumping teams have been announced for the Rio Olympics at a press conference held in Aachen today.
Dressage:
- Kristina Bröring-Sprehe (above) on Desperados FRH
- Sönke Rothenberger on Cosmo
- Isabell Werth on Weihegold OLD
- Dorothee Schneider on Showtime FRH
- Travelling reserve: Hubertus Schmidt on Imperio
Showjumping
- Christian Ahlmann on Taloubet Z
- Ludger Beerbaum on Casello
- Daniel Deusser on First Class Van Eeckelghem
- Marcus Ehning on Cornado NRW
- Travelling reserve: Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum on Fibonacci 17
Meredith’s listing is to be confirmed as she has to check her owners are happy for the horse to travel on the reserve basis.
The dressage team is exactly the same as the quartet which has dazzled this week in Aachen, winning the Nations Cup with three plus-80% scores in both the grand prix on Thursday and the special today. Sönke is an Olympic debutant, but the other three all have Games experience.
The showjumping team also has one Olympic first-timer in Daniel Deusser, who was the World Cup champion in 2014.
The Germans won the showjumping Nations Cup in Aachen last Thursday evening, when Meredith was in the team and Daniel was left on the bench. Casello and Fibonacci were on that Nations Cup team, with Christian riding Epleaser Van’t Heike and Marcus on Pret A Tout.
The German eventing team is expected to be announced imminently too, after the conclusion of the Aachen Nations Cup this morning. Germany finished second to Australia, but this will not cause the reigning Olympic, world and European champions any concerns as they were only fielding one of their expected Rio quartet in the team. Michael Jung won the class individually on FischerTakinou, who is his preferred mount for Rio.
Full report from Aachen in H&H this week, out Thursday, 21 July.