There were medals galore on what was Super Saturday at the FEI Vaulting Championships, with five nations taking home gold medals in a day of spectacular equestrian sport.

In a stunning final for the Senior Women, Austria won Eva Nagiller took home the Senior World title. She connected with borrowed horse Bastion and lunger Tomasz Ogonowski to produce a soft and strong freestyle, 8.786. The silver medal went to Germany’s Alina Ross whose connection to family horse Baron R was evident as she effortlessly executed her zombie Free test, 8.635.

For German sisters Alice and Helen Layer it was a dream come true at their first Senior Championship. Alice kept her cool during her routine and was rewarded with the bronze medal, 8.546. Nadja Bϋttiker had to settle for sixth place for the home country after a time penalty proved incredibly costly.

One Canadian competed in this division: Charlotte Axani, 24, of Alberta and Morpheus finished 20th out of 28 finishers.

It was a nail-biting final in the men’s competition. Once again, impeccable jumps led to an impressive final. Germany Thomas Brøsewitz won his first Senior World medal, performing with character to take home the bronze, 8.636. Then it was all up to France. Theo Gardies came in second last and with musicality and precision he earned the highest marks from the judges, putting the pressure on teammate Quentin Jabet. Jabet moved seamlessly and was completely absorbed in his concept, but it was not enough to hold on to the gold. Theo Gardies became the world champion on Sir Sensation, beaten by Sebastion Langlois (8.881), with the silver medal going home for the second time to Quentin Jabet (8.859).

Canada had two male competitors in this championship: 23-year-old Talmage Conrad of British Columbia, who finished in twelfth place with San Felice Z, and 17-year-old Daniel Klotz-Dedora of Alberta, who finished in sixteenth place with Jupiter.

Switzerland were the proud owners of the Pas de Deux, with Zoe Maruccio and Syra Schmid astonishing themselves with an almost flawless performance to take home the silver medal (8.491). Germany’s Gisa Sternberg and Linda Otten had some mistakes in their performance, which dropped them one place, but won the bronze medal at their first championships (8.397). The world title went to Germany for the third time in a row. Diana Harwardt and Peter Kϋnne proved they were too good to be beaten (8.761).

Results women here.

Results men here.

Quentin Jabet takes a photo of Team France after winning the Nations Team gold at the 2024 FEI Vaulting World Championship Bern (SUI) (FEI/Martin Dokoupil)

The FEI World Vaulting Championships concluded with the ultimate battle between the nations.

In a record-breaking final, Team France won back-to-back Nations Team titles with a score of 9.239. The combination of the French team with Yannick Kersulec and Orlof de Conde, Quentin Jabet with Ronaldo 200 NRW and Andrea Boe and Theo Gardies, Sir Sensation and Sebastien Langlois proved untouchable. They led from the start with every combination scoring more than 9 points.

Team Germany took the silver medal in a thrilling battle, 8.923. Switzerland had a lead after two individual competitors, but the German team performed excellently and left Team Switzerland with another bronze medal, 8.104.

Full results here.

~ with files from FEI Communications