March 1, 2026 
Steve Guerdat was a man on a World Cup mission in Helsinki: qualify for the Final.
Sitting 20th on the Western European League standings with 29 points ahead of the 13th and final leg in Finland, the former World Cup champion had ground to make up and one last chance to do it.
“I really wanted to do well because of the points,” explained Guerdat. “We did the whole trip here to Helsinki just to try to gain the last few points that were missing for the Final, so I didn’t want to mess it up.”
Spoiler: he didn’t.
Thirty-nine combinations came forward for the Guilherme Jorge designed course with seven finding a clear path to advance to the jump off. When the final pair crossed the timers, it was the Swiss rider and Albfuehren’s Iashin Sitte atop the leaderboard by just four hundredths of a second, securing their ticket to the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Final in April.
It’s their second World Cup win of the season. They also topped the qualifier in Leipzig (GER).
Guerdat is one of five riders to have won the FEI Jumping World Cup Final three times. He took the title in 2015 with Albfuehren’s Paille and again in 2016 with Corbinian. He collected his third victory in 2019 aboard Alamo.
More impressive still, however, is his consistency.
In 15 FEI World Cup Final appearances, Guerdat has only twice finished outside the top 10, and has six times jumped to podium finishes. He was second in 2012 and 2013 with Nino des Buissonnets and third in 2007 aboard Tresor.
But it’s not the wins on his mind when he wanders down memory lane. It’s the misses.
“I don’t like to look back, but if I do I get more sorry I missed two wins with my best horse, Nino. Twice I was in the jump-off for the win and ended up second with him and I should have won both of them. When I look back I don’t think of the three (wins), I think of the two I missed!” he told the FEI in 2022.
A fourth title in Fort Worth would set a new record–if he goes.
Guerdat withdrew from the World Cup Final last year due to health reasons and says he’s still deciding whether he’ll make the trip to Texas this April.
“I’m not thinking about that right now. I’m just thinking about qualifying for the Final and enjoying the win,” he said with a smile. “I’m very happy and very thankful for the outcome.
“I think everybody close to the sport, or who knows me, knows about the special relationship that I have with this World Cup Series, and especially the World Cup Final,” continued Guerdat. “This is a competition I knew about when I was growing up, and that motivated me to be part of it one day. Now I’m a little part of the history of the World Cup, and I continue to be very motivated by it.”
The Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Final takes place in Fort Worth, Texas, April 8–12, 2026. Tickets are on sale now. (Get 15% with HN Perks! Use discount code “FEIDICKIES!”)
