Nicolas Andreani (FRA), Lisa Wild (AUT), and Gera Marie Grün with Justin van Gerven (GER), celebrated magnificent victories at the FEI World Cup™ Vaulting Final 2014/2015 in Graz (AUT) this weekend, at the famous horse show "Fest der Pferde" in the sold-out city arena, where 14 athletes from seven countries battled it out.
Backflip queen on top
The crowd in Graz celebrated the most euphoric triumph in the female competition as Lisa Wild (AUT) won her first FEI World Cup™ Vaulting Final.
Billed as the favourite for this Final after winning the Leipzig and Salzburg qualifiers, she convinced the judges with outstanding performances on Robin lunged by Nina Rossin in a gripping Final, with Switzerland’s Simone Jäiser hot on her heels and ultimately finishing second.
"As I heard the score, I knew it would be very hard to beat, but I also really didn’t want to finish second", Wild said. As the scoreboard lit up with her final points - 9,018 - the 19-year-old student, and first vaulter to perform a full somersault on horseback at the FEI World Vaulting Championships in Le Mans (FRA) in 2012, was ecstatic.
Supported by her coach Marissa Jöbstl, and with her whole family in the crowd, she said: "I think I will only come to terms with this in the next few weeks. I will always remember this moment. I knew that it would be possible to win, but all the other vaulters are so brilliant you can never be sure." Third place for the individual female competition was claimed by last year’s champion Anna Cavallaro (ITA), who finished on 8,631 points with Harley and lunger Nelson Vidoni.
Amazing end for French superstar
In the male competition, Nicolas Andreani, known as "Nico" to his many fans, secured a happy end to his highly impressive career. After becoming European Champion in 2009 and World Champion in 2012, he secured his third-in-a-row win of FEI World Cup™ Vaulting, the most important winter series for the world’s best vaulters.
After the first round, the 30-year-old fitness coach from Paris had to give the overnight lead to Germany’s Thomas Brüsewitz, but on the final day he proved he was the man of the FEI World Cup™ Vaulting 2014/15 series. After his huge point scores in the Salzburg and Paris qualifiers, he posted a massive 8,964 points with Just A Kiss and lunger Marina Joosten Dupon in Graz. For Andreani this was a very emotional win, with his "Einstein" freestyle on his last official outing - he will now focus on performing in vaulting shows.
To hit the jackpot once more was a well-deserved last highlight for an exceptionally talented vaulter. "This is the best thing that can happen for an athlete. Now it is time for the younger ones", said Andreani after the prize-giving ceremony.
Thomas Brüsewitz, vaulting on Danny Boy and lunged by former FEI World Cup™ champion Patric Looser (SUI), finished on 8,726 points, followed by his compatriot and 19-year-old newcomer Julian Wilfling, who scored third on Luino with lunger Alexander Zebrak (8,546).
German duo
The pas-de-deux victory went to Gera Marie Grün and Justin van Gerven from Cologne-based club "Köln-Dünnwald".
The German champions from 2013 toppled off Danny Boy lunged by Patric Looser (SUI) in the first round, but on the last day they showed a very clear and expressive performance and were rewarded by the judges with 7,872 points.
The Netherlands’ sister act Carola and Esther Sneekes on Nolan with lunger Marjo Sneekes had to admit defeat on 7,204.
Germany’s Pia Engelberty and Torben Jacobs, and Austria’s Stefanie Millinger and Evelyn Freund, were unable to compete in Graz. Patric Looser, coach of the winning German pas-de-deux, said of the triumph: "Some weeks ago, we said we’d go to Graz to win. Now as the favourites this was a totally different situation, so I'm proud of Gera and Justin and they deserve this moment after a long season."
Looser also praised the organizer of the Fest der Pferde: "In Graz we had perfect conditions. This was fantastic, not just for the vaulters, but for our horses."
20 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is www.aroundtherings.com, for subscribers only
Recent Articles
Sinner-Alcaraz, the duel that came to succeed the three phenomenons
Beyond the final result, Roland Garros left the feeling that the Italian and the Spaniard will shape the great duel that came to help us through the duel for the end of the Federer-Nadal-Djokovic era.
Table tennis: Brazil’s Bruna Costa Alexandre will be Olympic and Paralympic in Paris 2024
She is the third in her sport and the seventh athlete to achieve it in the same edition; in Santiago 2023 she was the first athlete with disabilities to compete at the Pan American level and won a medal.
Rugby 7s: the best player of 2023 would only play the medal match in Paris
Argentinian Rodrigo Isgró received a five-game suspension for an indiscipline in the circuit’s decisive clash that would exclude him until the final or the bronze match; the Federation will seek to make the appeal successful.
Rhonex Kipruto, owner of the world record for the 10000 meters on the road, was suspended for six years
The Kenyan received the maximum sanction for irregularities in his biological passport and the Court considered that he was part of a system of “deliberate and sophisticated doping” to improve his performance. He will lose his record and the bronze medal at the Doha World Cup.
Katie Ledecky spoke about doping Chinese swimmers: “It’s difficult to go to Paris knowing that we’re going to compete with some of these athletes”
The American, a seven-time Olympic champion, referred to the case of the 23 positive controls before the Tokyo Games that were announced a few weeks ago and shook the swimming world. “I think our faith in some of the systems is at an all-time low,” he said.
