'I'm so excited for next year'

Germany triumphs, despite it not all going seamlessly, and there's plenty for the British squad to celebrate, too

- JENNIFER DONALD

Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup Final, Real Club de Polo, Barcelona, Spain 

GREAT BRITAIN enjoyed a glorious moment on the podium after winning Thursday’s opening round of the Longines FEI Nations Cup Final. But while it was the British quartet for whom everything came together seamlessly on day one, on Sunday it was a triumphant Germany who would be crowned the 2023 victors so effortlessly – well, almost.

On a sizzling afternoon in Barcelona, an eight-fault opener from Jana Wargers certainly had the team sweating, then anchorman Richard Vogel was nearly jumped out the saddle by an over-exuberant leap by United Touch S at fence one. But, with Christian Kukuk (Checker 47) and Hans-Dieter Dreher (Elysium) having already posted clears and Richard surviving unscathed, the quartet won the title for the first time since 2016 on a team score of zero.

Chef d’equipe Otto Becker said: “These guys deserve the win – what they did is unbelievable. I’m a lucky guy to be part of this team.”

Jana described it as the “perfect win” and Hansi agreed it had been a “good week”, while Christian said the pressure had benefited him.

“I need that a bit,” he said. “I came here with a good feeling – I knew we had a really strong team because all five of us have had great seasons. I was disappointed to have one down on Thursday, so I wanted to do better today.”

Christian only took the ride back on Checker (Comme Il Faut x Come On), who is owned by Madeleine Winter-Schulze and looked after by Sofie Karlsson, when his boss Ludger Beerbaum retired earlier this year.