April 25, 2025 
American swimmer Michael Phelps is widely considered to be one of the most decorated athletes of all time. In his prime, Phelps won 28 (!) Olympic medals, 23 of them gold. At the height of his career between 2001-2009, Phelps broke 29 individual World Records.
But the GOAT of the swimming pool better watch his back.
On Thursday at the Defender Kentucky CCI5*, German rider Michael Jung and his gold medal Paris Olympic partner fischerChipmunk FRH came, saw, and conquered dressage on Day 1 in Lexington, setting a new record of 18.6 in the process.
Jung is one of only three riders in the event’s history to earn a 20-or-under score. The others include German rider Bettina Hoy and Ringwood Cockatoo, who earned a 19.2 back in 2009. The last contender?
Jung, himself, of course, once again with fischerChipmunk FRH, who scored a 20.1 in 2022.
He went on to set another record on Saturday, heading into the final phase with the largest margin after cross country in any CCI5*-L with 11.8 penalties in hand. And on Sunday, he capped it with his fifth, and record setting win, at the historic event.
Still, it’s hardly the first record Jung has smashed during his more than 25 years competing on the international stage. Take, for example, the pinnacle of the sport…
Olympic Records
Jung, the reigning Olympic individual gold medalist, also won consecutive individual golds in London (2012) and Rio (2016) with La Biosthetique – Sam FBW.
He is one of only three riders in history to do so, joining the Netherlands’ Charles Pahud de Mortanges (in 1928 and 1932), and New Zealand’s Mark Todd (in 1984 and 1988). The German rider also holds a total of four Olympic golds—two in London, one in Rio, and one in Paris—the most of any eventing athlete.
But that’s not Jung’s only Olympic feat. Last summer in the City of Light, he famously became the only rider in history to win the individual Gold medal three times. What’s more, Jung is 42 years old, an age when many equestrian athletes are only just hitting their prime.
Is there a four-peat in Jung’s Olympic future? We’re certainly not betting against him.
World & European Championship Records
There’s only so many championships on the eventing calendar, and at one point in time, Michael Jung held them all simultaneously.
In 2012, when he won both the team and individual Olympic medals in London with La Biosthetique Sam, Jung was already the reigning FEI World Equestrian Games individual champion from 2010 (also on Sam). But he wasn’t done yet. In 2011, he and Sam also won gold at the European Championships—a title he held in two more Europeans over the next five years with Halunke FBW (2013) and then Takinou (2015)—again, the first rider to do so.
CCI4* & CCI5* Awesomeness
Prepare to be shocked: It’s not only at the championship level the Michael Jung excels. In 2015, Jung became only the second rider in history to earn the title of Rolex Grand Slam Champion after Great Britain’s Pippa Funnell did so two years after the Grand Slam’s inception. (Great Britain’s Scott Brash also won in 2014/2015, but in show jumping).
The Grand Slam is comprised of the legendary 5* events in Kentucky, Badminton and Burghley, which means that Sunday’s win on fischerChipmunk FRH has set the stage for a second run at the title.
Naturally, it’s yet another record for him to break.
