October 18, 2024 
Cannes Stars, powered by the Iron Dames, are the Global Champions League’s leading ladies.
Officially.
GCL’s first all-female team finished the 2024 season with the championship crown firmly fixed atop their collective helmets.
Their breakout season saw the Cannes Stars take four victories—the season opener in Doha plus Saint-Tropez, Monaco, and Riesenbeck—and achieve seven podium finishes to top the standings.
The brainchild of Deborah Mayer, the Iron Dames project started in 2018 in motorsport to promote and support women in sports where they compete on equal terms with men and expanded into equestrian sport in 2024.
The GCL team is made up of 2012 Olympian Janne Friederike Meyer-Zimmermann (GER) along with countrywomen Sophie Hinners and Katrin Eckermann. The Netherlands’ Sanne Thijssen and Kim Emmen and USA’s Natalie Dean complete the six.
It was Meyer-Zimmermann, Hinners and Dean that clinched the championship victory at the Series Final in Rabat—and they did it in the first round with clears from Hinners and Iron Dames Singclair and Meyer-Zimmermann on Messi van‘t Ruytershof.
“I don’t think any of us are superstitious, but even though we all came here with the top team and top horse, it was the case that before the first round we checked three more times to make sure the saddle was in the right place, the bridle was good and that nothing goes wrong,” said Meyer-Zimmermann.
“And yes, the joy was even greater when we both had a clean sheet and we then knew that we had won.”
Said Mayer:
“It is with great pride and emotion that we celebrate a historic moment, not only for the Iron Dames project, but also for women in sport. Winning the Global Champions League 2024 with the very first all-female team, in our very first season, is a dream come true.
“I am immensely proud of Janne, Katrin, Kim, Natalie, Sanne and Sophie and what they have achieved. Their passion, determination, collective strength and perseverance have taken us to the top.
“Success gives us the chance to set an example and pass on a message of hope and unlimited potential to the next generation and to all women who are pursuing a dream—no matter how impossible it may seem—whatever the field. The Iron Dames project is here to stay and to develop over the very long term, proving that there are no limits to what women can achieve in sport and beyond.”
