The Dutch show jumping riders won a silver medal on Friday at the country competition of the World Equestrian Championships and thus also qualified for the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024. The country teams competed against each other for three days. The Dutch team of national coach Jos Lansink achieved 19.31 points in the Danish Herning. Harrie Smolders’ clear round on Friday, with horse Monaco, in particular contributed to this.
Besides Smolders, the Dutch team consisted of Sanne Thijssen with Con Quidam RB, Maikel van der Vleuten with Beauville Z NOP and Jur Vrieling with Long John Silver. Smolders’ strong performance preceded good rounds by Van der Vleuten and Vrieling on the first and second days, Wednesday and Thursday. The fall of the German rider André Thieme also contributed to the Dutch silver.
In Herning, Sweden took gold and the bronze medal was for the United Kingdom. Ireland and Germany finished fourth and fifth and therefore also qualify for Paris 2024. On Sunday the showjumping riders will ride individually.
Before the World Cup, national coach Lansink told NRC that finishing at least fifth in order to advance to the Olympics was the main goal. He was not sure of that: “If I’m very honest, it could go either way. There are six or seven strong countries. The shape of the week will be decisive. If you make too many mistakes in the beginning, that will haunt you for the rest of the days.”
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