Belgium won the Nations Cup final and claimed an Olympic place

Belgium started the final strong with a flawless run by Quinn Verek and Casanova de la Pomme. In the middle of today’s Nations Cup final, where eight nations competed for the coveted title, Belgium was one of four nations to keep a clean sheet.

24-year-old Gilles Thomas, the team’s third jockey, boosted Belgium’s chances of winning a flawless run. Herning’s WC silver medalist Jérôme Guery then stood for an impressive finish with Quel Homme de Hus. Another zero in the record, which means that the Belgians are guaranteed victory and Olympic qualification for Paris 2024.

– Now I feel a lot better, no more pressure, but there was a lot of pressure before my round. We are very happy to secure Olympic qualification,” Jerome Gehry said in a winning interview with the FEI afterwards.

Today’s victory is the third victory for Belgium in the final of the Nations Cup since 2013, only the Netherlands have achieved the same victories in the same period.

France won the inaugural team class on Thursday and have been in contention for the day’s victory for a long time, but finished second with a total of 4 errors in the final. Switzerland also stopped at 4 fouls, as did France, but came in third with a slower time overall. Just like Belgium, Switzerland also sought an Olympic qualification in today’s final, but should continue to look for Olympic qualification in the future.

Ready for the Olympics

The Olympic-ready countries for showjumping after this summer’s World Cup at Herning and the Nations Cup Final are:
World champions Sweden, France (host country), Netherlands, Great Britain, Ireland, Germany and Belgium.

Sweden is the second in the Challenge Cup

Sweden finished second with 24 errors in the first round on Thursday and did not reach today’s final with the top eight nations. However, the Swedish quartet avenged yesterday – with a total of four fouls, the team finished second in the Challenge Cup after Mexico’s victory.

The riders got together, came back and did better. Really big fun, says Henrik Ankarrona for the Swedish Equestrian Federation.

Full list of results for the Nations Cup Final.