Record Olympic champion Isabell Werth has secured her 18th German dressage championship title in the Sauerland Balve.
With top mare Wendy, the Rheinberger won the Grand Prix Special at the German Championships on Saturday. The victory for the team meant the first title since Olympic gold with the team in front of Versailles Castle last summer.
“We have been a match for a year and a half – that was sensational from the start. Nobody believed that it would develop so quickly,” said Werth. “The horse was outstanding, unfortunately the jockey has not yet managed to ride the change well – even if that also succeeds, that’s mega.”
Werth with Special Blend also fourth
Werth (55) celebrated the first victory in Balve since 2022 when she won the freestyle in the absence of the dominators Jessica von Bredow-Werndl and Dalera on Quantaz. With Wendy, on which Werth with the team in Paris won her eighth gold and silver, she also came to a strong number of points after the superior victory in the Grand Prix.
With 78.549 percent, Werth was almost one percentage point ahead of runner -up Frederic Wandres and Bluetooth (77,628). With the young Special Blend, Werth also took the very strong fourth place, bronze won Katharina Hemmer. Double Olympic champion from Bredow-Werndl, who won the last four championship titles with Dalera, reached tenth place at the championship debut of her young horse Diallo. In the Grand Prix, both had ridden fourth place.
Werth protects Wendy on Sunday
However, the crowning glory with Wendy in the freestyle on Sunday (11.15 a.m.) is canceled. After Wendy’s long tournament break, Werth does not want to expect her young star too much and instead of collecting double gold, prefers to save grains for the Chio in Aachen in two weeks. Werth only saddles her blood cubs debutants special blend. In total, she won 41 medals at German Championships.
Our sources:
- WDR transmission of the competitions in Balve
- News agencies SID and dpa
