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The Open European Junior Vaulting Championships were held at the fabulous venue of Stadl Paura (AUT) from 4-8 August 2010. Only the weather was set against the Organising Committee, but not even that could spoil a terrific event. After the parade of the 16 competing nations, the opening addresses and several show performances, the FEI Delegate Bettina de Rham officially opened the Championships.
Competition began on Friday with the individual Compulsory tests, and in the Female division 15-year-old Daniela Fritz from Austria, who began riding at the age of three and who trains five times a week, took the early lead ahead of German vaulters Jana Linicus and Jennifer Braun in second and third. Fritz was still in front after the Freestyle but with only a fractional advantage over the surprising Silvia Stoppazzini from Italy, while Braun remained in third followed by Linicus who dropped to fourth and fellow-German Gianna Meier in fifth position.
In the second and final round Fritz distanced herself from the opposition with a score of 7.910 points, while Stoppazzini completed with 7.520 points. But only one-hundredth of a point separated the Italian from Germany’s Jennifer Braun whose colleagues Meier and Linicus followed in fourth and fifth. In the concluding Freestyle the top vaulters really played to the gallery with some fantastic performances. With a mark of 8.590 Italy's Stoppazzini strongly challenged Fritz who scored 8.533 but the Gold remained in Austria, currently the most successful Junior nation, when the final calculations showed a total of 8.066 for the Austrian champion. Stoppazzini seized Silver with 7.788 while Bronze went to Germany's Jennifer Braun with 7.704, thanks to her consistent performances. Germany's Gianna Meier (7.532) and Jana Linicus (7.519) took fourth and fifth places.
DOMINATED
In the Male competition the German sportsmen proved unbeatable. After the Compulsory test in the first round Thomas Brüsewitz led the way with Jannik Heiland and Thorben Jacobs in second and third while Lukas Heppler of Switzerland was ranked fourth followed by Austria's Florian Haidegger and the second Swiss vaulter Cyril Michel. In the first-round Freestyle the Germans were again invincible with marks above 8. Heppler defended his fourth place against Heidegger while Switzerland's Michel remained ahead of Florian Fritz from Austria. The rankings did not change after the Compulsory test of the second and final round. Germany's Brüsewitz, Heiland and Jacobs were still a class of their own while Switzerland's Lukas Heppler stood his ground to retain fourth place ahead of Austria's Haidegger, and in the final Freestyle the leaders confirmed their supremacy with even better marks. Germany took home all three medals with Thomas Brüsewitz (Gold - 8.016), Jannik Heiland (Silver -7.828) and Thorben Jacobs (Bronze - 7.802). Switzerland's Heppler finished fourth ahead of Austria's Haidegger.
PAS-DE-DEUX
A total of eight nations lined out for the Pas-de-Deux competition and the Austrians came out in front once again. After the first round Austria's Daniela Slomka/ Katharina Nell and Lisa Wild/ Christina Leitgeb ranked first ahead of the Eccles siblings Joanne and Hannah from Great Britain who were followed by Erik Oese/Kristina Boe (GER) and Thereas-Sophie Bresch/ Daniel Rein (GER). The scores were very close however so it was still wide open going into the tension-filled second round on Sunday.
This time Austria's Slomka/ Nell (AUT) showed a visibly better performance on their horse Vaeccito which brought their score to 8.216 points and secured gold and the European Championship title ahead of the Eccles sisters on W.H. Bentley. The other Austrian pair - Wild/ Leitgeb - held on for Bronze by only a narrow margin when Germany's Bresch/Rein boosted their performance remarkably and improved one place to finish a close fourth.
TEAM COMPETITION
In the Junior team competition, in which only eight teams took part, the same head-to-head clash as last year between Club 43 (AUT) and Ingelsberg (GER) began at the outset in the Compulsory test. The Austrians with 6.805 points and the Germans with 6.784 points were clearly ahead of the teams from Italy (6.277) and Switzerland (6.005). Hungary, Great Britain, Russia and the Netherlands showed comparatively weak performances, with marks between 5.8 and 5.6.
The first round Freestyle test of the Austrian Club 43 was a real eye-catcher and was awarded the leading score of 8.393 before the final with a total score of 7.599. The Ingelsberg (GER) teams also showed great form, but were not completely without mistakes. Their first round Freestyle test only earned a mark of 7.736 and second place so far with a total of 7.260 points. With 6.852 points Italy defended its third position ahead of Hungary (6.370) and Switzerland (6.256) after the first round.
Due to a problem with a horse the Russian team was withdrawn and so only seven teams began the final Freestyle tests. With another fantastic performance and a finishing mark of 7.811 Club 43 (AUT) secured the European Team Championship title with a clear win over Ingelsberg (GER) who improved slightly to take Silver with 7.483 points which is however considerably below their normal performance level. The Italians were weaker in the final round, but they still claimed Bronze with 6.954 ahead of Hungary (6.410) and Switzerland (6.242).
The sun at last peeped out during the final presentation ceremony to crown a great weekend of sport and a very successful event.
Full results at http://www.cvi-austria.org/EM/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=61&Itemid=60
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