The top of the vaulting leaderboard didn’t change on Saturday in Omaha.

The Germans swept the Burlington Capital FEI Vaulting World Cup™ Final, winning the female, male and pas de deux divisions.

Kathrin Meyer and San Classico S. ©toribilas.com

Meyer makes her mark

Kathrin Meyer (GER) kicked off the winning mood with another top performance abroad San Classico S, earning a Burlington Capital FEI Vaulting World Cup™ Final – Female Free Test score of 8.556 for a total score of 8.428. The Technical Test and Free Test are valued at 50% each.

Her championship debut was made all the more special by her team. Meyer competed on her own horse with her mom, Sonja, longeing.

“It was a great experience for me,” Meyer said of sharing the event with her mom and horse. “[It was our] first time at such a big event; we never did a championship together. It was such a great experience and I’m really happy we did such a good job.”

Kathrin Meyer and San Classico S. ©toribilas.com

“I’m very proud of my horse,” Sonja said of San Classico S, a 16-year-old Oldenburg gelding. “We bought him 10 years ago so I trained him myself. He’s doing a good job in dressage and he’s jumping and now he’s doing this job.”

San Classico S did double duty at the World Cup Final, also competing as a last minute substitution for German teammate Jannik Heiland in the male division. “I told Jannik I can’t decide if it’s working or not. You have to talk to ‘Sunny’ and he will tell us if it’s working,” continued Sonja.

“We knew from the first moment that it was working.”

Jannik Heiland and San Classico S. ©toribilas.com

Heiland earns sweet victory

It was a double gold for Sunny who scored a second win in Omaha with Jannik Heiland (GER) in the Burlington Capital FEI Vaulting World Cup™ Final – Male. The pair scored 8.666 in the Free Test for 8.551 overall. 

“I had to change the horse eight days before the flight,” Heiland said. “It was for sure a challenge for me but he did a very good job in this big arena with a great atmosphere.”

Saturday marked the final time Heiland would perform this Free Test, which means it’s back to the drawing board for him and his team.

“Usually every vaulter changes the theme of the freestyle every year,” he explained. “I had shown it already last year a lot so it’s now time to develop something new. I’m sad that it was the last time to show this freestyle because I put a lot of work into it, but all in all I’m really happy with it. It was really cool for me to show it here one last time.”

While Heiland is no stranger to the top of his sport, his start with his current training team was less illustrious.

“In 2008 I came from Hamburg to Hanover and I visited for the first time now my best friends,” he said of the day he met his new trainers. “I came to their house and I took the wrong door and there was a cake on the ground. I thought it was a mat, and I stepped into the cake. This was my first impression to the family.”

Cake-gate aside, the bond formed quickly and they’ve gone on to accomplish great things together, World Cup Final title included.

Chiara Congia and Justin Van Gerve. ©toribilas.com

Congia and Van Gerven retire on top

Performing their Free Test for the final time—and in their final performance as a pair—was the winning pas de deux team, Chiara Congia (GER) and Justin Van Gerven (GER).

“For us it is our last competition,” Van Gerven said of the duo’s performance in the Burlington Capital FEI Vaulting World Cup™ Final – Pas de Deux Free Test, for which they scored a 8.311 for a total of 8.341.

“We will retire after this one. It was even greater to win here. We’ve had a lot of great years behind us. You can’t make a living from vaulting. [Chiara] is studying [psychology] and I’m already working [as a forensic accountant].”

Fitting two humans on one horse’s back is a challenge in itself. Adding acrobatic moves and technical lifts makes the task more difficult still.

“Most of the time I am on the horse lifting her, so that makes it a little bit easier,” Van Gerven explained. “It’s always a challenge to create exercises where we have enough space and can also put on a good show.

On Saturday, that good show included an error mid-test when Van Gerven slid off the horse. His advice for coping with performance mistakes doubles as good life advice.

“You can’t think about things that happened before; you have to think about the next step and go on. This is the most important part to not be thinking about bad things because you have to do your Freestyle until the end.”

The pair recovered quickly, pulling off their signature move, where Congia is supported on Van Gerven’s shoulders and lets herself fully fly. 

“It’s called ‘daf.’ I feel really free, just like I’m flying. It’s amazing.”

Feature image: Jannik Heiland and San Classico S. ©toribilas.com