Australia’s FEI Jumping World Championship campaign has come to a close in Aachen, and while the ultimate result may not have been everything the team had hoped for, there is plenty to take away from a week that saw our combinations step onto one of the biggest stages in world sport and deliver some performances to be very proud of.

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Australia finished 15th in the final team classification, an improvement of five places on our 20th-place finish at the World Championships in Herning in 2022. It does not quite reach the incredible sixth place achieved by Australia at Tryon in 2018, but it represents a definite step forward and gives plenty to build on as attention now turns towards qualification for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.

Representing Australia in Aachen were Tom McDermott and Oaks Ventriloquist, Edwina Tops-Alexander and Fellow Castlefield, Jamie Winning-Kermond and Tulara Wat Colblensky and Rowan Willis and Handsome, with Thaisa Erwin and Hialita B travelling as the reserve combination.

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After the opening speed competition on Wednesday, Thursday brought a very different challenge as the combinations tackled the first round of the second competition, with a place in the top ten team final on the line. It was here that Australia produced some of its best jumping of the Championship. Edwina and Fellow Castlefield delivered a clear round, as did Tom and Oaks Ventriloquist, while Jamie and Tulara Wat Colblensky finished with just one time penalty. Rowan and Handsome had four faults, which became the discard score. Combined with the scores carried forward from the opening competition, Australia finished on 15.68 penalties and in 15th position overall.

Only the top ten nations progressed to Friday night’s team medal decider, but the Australian story was not over. Tom and Edwina had done enough individually to earn their places among the 60 combinations progressing to the second round, giving Australia two combinations back in the magnificent Aachen Main Stadium under lights on Friday evening. Jamie came agonisingly close to joining them, finishing 62nd in the standings after Thursday’s competition.

Against another enormous championship track on Friday night, Tom and Oaks Ventriloquist added five penalties, while Edwina and Fellow Castlefield finished with eight. When the cumulative scores were calculated, Tom finished the Championship in 38th position on 10.30 penalties, with Edwina just behind in 41st on 10.80. Only the top 25 combinations progress to Sunday’s Individual Final, bringing Australia’s senior Jumping World Championship campaign to an end. The Aachen format allows the top 25 combinations after the first and second competitions to contest the Individual Final.

Teams results can be found HERE and Australian Individual results HERE.

There is also something particularly special in seeing two Australian-bred horses wearing the green and gold at a World Championship of this calibre. Oaks Ventriloquist, bred by Oaks Sport Horses, and Tulara Wat Colblensky, bred by Tulara Warmbloods, both carried the Australian flag in Aachen alongside some of the finest horses in the world. For Australian breeders, riders and everyone involved in producing horses at home, that is something worth celebrating.

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Aachen was always going to be an enormous test. World Championships are designed to find the very best combinations in the world, and the courses became progressively more demanding as the week unfolded. Australia may leave without the Olympic qualification ticket it came chasing, but it leaves with a better team result than four years ago, two combinations progressing deep into the individual competition and valuable championship experience across the entire squad.

The road to Los Angeles is far from over. Aachen offered the first major opportunity to secure a team place for LA28, with seven World Championship team qualification positions available outside host nation USA. Under the current qualification pathway, two further team places are allocated through the 2027 FEI Olympic Group G qualification event, giving Australia another important opportunity to book its place in Los Angeles.

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Congratulations to Tom, Edwina, Jamie, Rowan and Thaisa, Chef d’Equipe Gavin Chester, the owners, breeders, grooms, support staff and everyone behind these horses and riders. World Championship campaigns are never the work of one person, and an enormous amount of work, belief and sacrifice sits behind every Australian combination that walked through the gate in Aachen.

The result book will say Australia finished 15th. The bigger story is that Australia has combinations capable of holding their own on the world stage and now has a very clear target ahead.

The road to LA28 continues.

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