At eight o'clock yesterday morning, the 99 riders in the Children’s Jumping category took to the course of the Grand Parquet de Fontainebleau for the first qualifying event of the 2018 European Children Championships. Maëlle Noizat and Attraction Riverland (Quatro de Riverland x Royal Feu) started the competition ideally, winning after a clear round completed in 71.93 seconds. France currently sits fourth in the team standings. Delighted by this strong start to the competition, Maëlle beamed as she walked out of the awards ceremony. "I could have ridden better, it's true. But I'm really happy to have won this morning. The atmosphere in the French team is great and we all get along very well!”. Behind the French rider, young Noona Wildfang Linde (DEN) on Bentley N (Numero Uno x Peter Pan) and Lizanna Kiss (HUN) on Eliana (Embassy I x Quasi Roi) completed the 100% girls' podium. Satisfied with this launch to the competition, French Chef d'Equipe Olivier Bost is confident for what’s coming next. "I am very happy with this first event. Opening with a Marseillaise (the French anthem) is ideal! The kids are under a lot of pressure as they are competing in this championship at home, but the girls were in a good form this morning. The little time penalty is a shame but I am very confident for the future. Our team ranking is quite satisfactory but I also know that our five pairs can also aim for an individual medal; we just have to make clear rounds! Lou Champion will not compete in the Nations Cup but she is part of the team and if we get a medal, of course, we will share it all together!" Indeed, Maëlle's teammates put in a great effort. With a clear round, Eden Leprevost Blin-Lebreton is now in 20th place individually, while Rose de Balanda, penalized by one time fault, is thirtieth. Julia Mermillod Baron finished this first course with four small points and Lou Champion, less lucky, was penalized by 8 points. Facing the French riders, the German team seems to be in particularly good shape at the beginning of the championship. With four clear rounds, Chiara Reyer (5th), Henry Munsberg (6th), Mick Haunhorst (10th), Mikka Roth (11th) and Charlotte Höing (51st) started this week on top. A nice performance as well by the teams from Hungary and Spain that also finished with a clear score. For its part, Spain placed three riders in the top 15 today.
