September 14, 2025 
In sports, the home advantage is a phenomenon where the home team is statistically more likely to win over the visiting team. According to Scorecasting, NBA teams win 62.7% of their home games, while 59% of NHL games and 57.6% of NFL games are won by home teams.
For German show jumper Gerrit Nieberg, the home advantage accounts for 100% of his five-star Grand Prix titles.
The 32-year-old rider has won four 1.60m Grands Prix in his career—all on German soil.
Whether the home advantage is due to psychological effects supporting fans, physiological advantages and/or disadvantages of playing near or away home, or simply due to referee bias is hotly contested. But in Nieberg’s case, you have to imagine that the location of his first win is a factor.
Because he didn’t just win first five-star Grand Prix in 2022, he did it at Aachen—on the biggest stage in Germany, if not the world.
He went on to top both the World Cup at Leipzig and the Grand Prix at Hamburg in 2023. On Sunday, he capture the LGCT Grand Prix of Riesenbeck, just 45 minutes from his home town.
Carving over a second off—“somewhere between the first and last jump!”—Nieberg and the 10-year-old piebald Ping Pong van de Lentamel (Emerald x Toulon) stopped the clock at 46.99 seconds to Peder Fredricson and Alcapone des Carmille’s 48.17.
It’s his first ever LGCT Grand Prix victory and the first 1.60m Grand Prix win for Ping Pong van de Lentamel.
“It’s difficult to find the words right now. I couldn’t be happier with how he jumped—he’s an amazing horse and I am so happy to be standing here right now,” said an elated Nieberg. “It is definitely my highlight of the year so far, and he’s only 10 years old, still quite inexperienced at this level. He’s such a cool horse—the easiest character every single day.”
Nieberg has now booked his ticket to the Super Cup in Prague, also for the first time. Come November, we’ll see if he can he expand his winning territory into neighbouring Czechia.
The LGCT next heads to New York, September 19–21.
