Everyone Will Be Trying To Beat The Germans–Again
With depth like no other nation, they look ready to extend their Olympic winning streak to three, writes Birgit Popp.
From 1997 to 2000, Germany held an amazing number of team titles. They seemed unbeatable, winning the 1997 and 1999 European Championships, the 1998 World Champions and the 1996 and 2000 Olympics.
But in 2001 they fell to third in the European Championships, even though Ludger Beerbaum won the individual title aboard Gladdys S. Then they were fourth at the 2002 World Equestrian Games, which to German eyes was a total disaster. They bounced back at the 2003 European Championships, though, as Christian Ahlmann, Ludger Beerbaum and Marcus Ehning swept the individual medals after winning the team gold medal by 10 faults, ahead of France and Switzerland.
German coach Kurt Gravemeier can select from a pool of able riders. Before the CHIO Aachen (Germany, see Horse Show section), only Beerbaum was certain to be on the team. But he still had to choose between Goldfever and Gladdys S.
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The FEI World Cup Final runners-up, Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum and Shutterfly, seemed almost certain for the team, until the announcement on July 17 by the German Olympic Equestrian Committee that it would not allow Michaels-Beerbaum to compete in Athens because Shutterfly had tested positive for metabolites of the sedative acepromazine at the final. Michaels-Beerbaum, who’s lived in Germany since 1989 and is Beerbaum’s sister-in-law, is contesting the test and the decision, and other German riders have signed a petition in support of her.
But the committee’s ruling left the team’s composition clear. Marcus Ehning, who won the team gold medal and placed fourth individually in 2000, also won the World Cup in 2003 and is the new leader of the FEI World Rankings. Although his topmount For Pleasure had a slight inflammation of the periosteum in the left front leg and did not compete at Aachen, he’s still under consideration.
The other team members are 2003 European team and individual champion Christian Ahlmann with C
