It is not the first time that Ermelo (NED) is the stage for the Equestrian Vaulting Junior World Championships. Actually, it was the first ever location to hold them, back four years ago in 2015. However, that time the Senior European Championship was not held in the same place at the same time. Four years ago here in Ermelo, Colombia’s Juan Martin Clavijo won his first medal (he came back to defend his title and won again in Ebreichsdorf in 2017). In 2015 Clavijo managed to beat the now former Mauritius Lambert Leclezio, the competition’s favorite who three years later, last year, won the World Equestrian Games in Tryon at only 21-year-old, becoming the youngest Senior World Champion ever. This time we won’t see Clavijo, now a senior himself, but we will able to see Leclezio compete once again, now wearing the French colours.
We will see if Lambert will be able to keep the title in France, but this week in Ermelo is shaping up to be another amazing vaulting event, to which will take part 24 nations. Besides the “traditional” Central European Countries also some newcomers like Luxemburg, represented in the junior male category by Philip Backer, and Ecuador, whose colours will be presented by Manuela Martinez Restrepo. Of course not all the nations are able to deploy athletes in all the events, but we hope that Equestrian Vaulting may soon be as popular and flowed as in Germany, whose strength resides in an incredibly large catchment area, that allows the nation to present every year athletes at the highest level in any event. It is not that the other countries have never present great champions, but it is undeniable that they have been more like shining comets, waiting for a new one to come.
Germany, on the other hand, has an entire court of planets that goes around the vaulting world: they are always there, sometimes more shining, sometimes less, but always present.
Anyways, it was beautiful to see so many flags waving during the buzzing opening ceremony, animated by performance of three of the best vaulters that ever existed (Nicolas Andreani, Joanne Eccles and Kai Vorberg). Good luck to all the participants, may you give the show we know you’re all able to provide and… may the best win!