Belgium confirms its status today... after a flawless round by Gilles Thomas, the Belgians win European Championship gold! Before the competition, the Belgian show jumping team were considered the favorites. Today, they lived up to that reputation! Great Britain takes silver, followed by Germany with bronze! Individually, Belgium also has four riders qualified for the individual final!
For Team Belgium, Nicola Philippaerts was the first to start with Katanga vh Dingeshof (Cardento x Tornado). Philippaerts approached the triple combination closely and gave Katanga just enough room to clear it without faults. The duo brought joy with a clear round!
The second Belgian to compete was Pieter Devos with his homebred Casual DV (Cornet Obolensky). The 2019 European Champion started strong, but made a mistake at the second jump. Casual hesitated slightly, and the pole came down. Devos stayed calm and refocused. The damage was limited to 4 faults.
After Bertram Allen and Qonquest de Rigo (Fantomas de Muze) knocked down one rail, Belgium's lead increased. But the pressure remained high for Thibeau Spits and Impress-K van 't Kattenheye Z (Indoktro-K van 't Kattenheye). Impress showed great respect for the jumps, and Spits stayed focused. There was a tense moment with six strides to the triple, but they managed to regain rhythm. It was clear Spits wanted to keep the poles up, but the clock was tight—resulting in just one time penalty!
“I have to admit I was nervous today, but Impress-K calmed my nerves during the course. I'm still shaking—this is just amazing,” said Thibeau Spits afterwards.
“Such a great feeling, this was a really fun experience, and I’ll be forever grateful to Impress-K!”
When both Christian Kukuk and Donald Whitaker had faults, Belgium took the lead by two points. The final pairs to start made the difference.
Gilles Thomas and Ermitage Kalone (Catoki) were allowed one rail down and would still secure a podium spot. But the pair were clearly aiming for a clear round and to secure the gold. With seven strides to the triple, Thomas showed they were going all in. When the pair crossed the finish line with arms raised—gold was secured!
“Our riders are just fantastic. We decided on the starting order as a team,” said a very happy Peter Weinberg afterwards.
“This medal means so much to me,” said Nicola Philippaerts.
“To share a team medal with these people is truly fantastic. I've been paired with Katanga for so long—she proves herself again, and that feels amazing.”
Gilles Thomas wins his first senior medal today...
“This really means a lot to me,” said Thomas.
“To be able to ride a horse like Ermitage—the medal belongs to him. I also want to thank my teammates. We were strong and we delivered!”
