Beaulieu Country Estate resident Thomas van Rijckevorsel (17) secured his place in the history books when taking the individual title in the first-ever FEI Youth Equestrian Games in Aachen, Germany.
The event came to a thrilling conclusion on the hallowed ground of Aachen, where Van Rijckevorsel, riding nine-year-old mare Lucy 781, claimed individual gold ahead of Morocco’s Jed Guerraoui (silver) while USA’s Mimi Gochman earned bronze.
The story of this fixture, designed to replace the Dakar 2022 Youth Olympic Games which were postponed to 2026, was epic, with the 30 contestants from 30 different nations – all aged between 15 and 18 – providing an incredible week of sport from June 30 to July 3.
Riding borrowed horses which they had to get to know within a few short days, the contestants showed extraordinary skill, maturity, and horsemanship against the background of arguably the most intimidating arena in the world.
“It was amazing, it hasn’t sunk in yet, it’s the best thing that ever happened to me,” said Van Rijckevorsel who was also part of the team Africa quintet who claimed bronze.
Top German course designer Frank Rothenberger presented the contestants with an even bigger track with fences measuring up to 1.30m, but 18 of the 30 starters still managed to jump the first course clear.
Meanwhile, out in the warm-up ring, Van Rijckevorsel had not seen any of that as he was busy working on his preparation with his trainer, Dominey Alexander.
“Before I went in I just saw Belgium’s Bart Jay Junior Vandecasteele’s time and I thought he must have been pretty fast. Dom [Alexander] told me to just go for it and we just went for it. Lucy tried her heart out and it all just worked out in the end.”
Van Rijckevorsel had plenty of support in Aachen, not just from trainer Alexander but also from his parents, grandparents, brother, and sister who all travelled to see him compete. And of course, he had the lovely Lucy to rely on.
“She is a great horse, small and hot like one of my horses at home but super careful and just a fighter, so I just got on and clicked with her and she’s been just amazing.”
Talking about his future ambitions, Van Rijckevorsel said he definitely wanted to come back and jump at Aachen again. “I’d love to have a career in this sport, it is my life.”
Related articles:
