New Zealand’s young vaulting stars from Kāpiti have finished a very credible ninth in the final of the team’s competition at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in France tonight.
To many, the Kiwis were a real surprise package, and making the top 12 for the final has attracted plenty of media interest and chatter among vaulting followers.
But coach Catarina Strom knew her young charges would star, despite it being the first time New Zealand has had a team at the world champs.
They took their Lorde-inspired freestyle, which they performed again this evening, to a whole new level. “They were absolutely amazing,” she said. “They aced their performance . . . I am just so happy with these girls. Throughout the champs, they have got better and better. They thrived on the very loud crowd and atmosphere in there.”
The athletes tonight improved on their artistic and technical scores from the previous competition. They competed aboard Ikarus (owned by Karin Kiontke and Antonia Schubert), from the Pegasus Muhlacker Club in Germany where the New Zealand has been preparing for the world champs.
The class was won by the Germans with 8.724.
Strom extended a huge thank you to everyone who had support the team, and said the best was yet to come from them. “We can’t wait to go home, train some more and show New Zealand what these girls are really capable of.”
Their next performance will be at Equidays.
The team is Vaulters: Danielle Schwabe, Brooke Dunstan, Lily-Claire Palmer, Georgi Curran, Rhyanne Vasta, Evangeline Goldie, Grace Williamson, Jennifer Ponne. Coaches: Catarina Strom, Verena Fiess.
