A weekend we'll never forget'

Germany triumphs in the inaugural Longines League of Nations Final and Ireland's Mikey Pender enjoys grand prix success

- JENNIFER DONALD

Longines League of Nations Final, Real Club De Polo, Barcelona, Spain

IN an exhilarating display of world-class sport, Germany came home as the jubilant victors of the inaugural Longines League of Nations (LLN) Final. The new-look series for 2024 (see box, p53) reached its climax in Spain where fortunes oscillated wildly for the nine finalists. But it was Otto Becker's side's superb horsemanship and composure under pressure that earned them the right to be the first to etch their names on the new silverware.

"Today was a great day, a weekend we will never forget," said world number 10 Richard Vogel, who jumped double clear for the winning team with the phenomenal United Touch S.

The competition was neck and-neck from the off and, with the luxury of a drop score in round one, Germany and the Netherlands topped the leaderboard on a zero score.

France, Sweden and Brazil formed a chasing pack carrying four faults, a fence ahead of Ireland, with USA and Spain on 12 faults. The first big surprise of the afternoon was that Switzerland were already trailing on 24 faults.

Switching to the three-rider per team format for round two, chefs d'equipe had to make tactical choices as to which riders to bring forward. Also, while the meaty championship course remained unchanged, Olympic designer Santiago Varela raised fence 7a and b a double of airy verticals with a Liverpool under the second element which would prove pivotal to the competition.

The double became something of a bogey, while the plank two fences later, on either a long five or short six strides from the previous oxer, was the downfall of many. Just under half the competitors jumped clear in round one, while in round two the strike rate dropped to just 22%, with Santiago noting that the majority of faults throughout the day came at the verticals and front poles of oxers.

A SHOCK ELIMINATION