Lieselot Kooremans is the new individual European champion among the Children. As the only rider, the 14-year-old Dutchman and her 12-year-old mare Nini van HD remained faultless in all six rounds of the U14 competition and thus deservedly secured the gold medal. Silver went to Eleonora Ljungman from Great Britain, and bronze to the Swiss Noah Philips-De Vuyst.
The second round of the individual final was fiercely contested: Six riders from a total of 31 participants started the final jump of their European Championship with zero penalty points on their account, including the two Germans, Johanna Hell and Justus Thomsen. Both had shown flawless rounds with their horses Copacabana M and Clooney throughout the tournament, thus significantly contributing to the team gold medal on Saturday. At the end, the pressure may have seemed a bit too high; Johanna Hell unfortunately withdrew after her horse refused to perform a second time, while Justus Thomsen was 20th best German in the final standings with 12 penalty points. Luisa Charlotte Brocks became the first German to finish the final event with a team gold medal, placing fifth in the final ranking with Cordijana after two flawless rounds in the individual final.
In the end, a tie between the top three had to decide the color of the medals. The Dutch rider Lieselot Kooremans has often proven that she can keep her composure in the tie: last year, the daughter of Olympic rider Raf Kooremans won the silver medal at the Pony European Championships in Opglabbeek, Belgium; on Saturday, she won silver with the team. On the saddle of the HD-trained Special de Muze daughter Nini Nini, she rode the first course in the tie, with a brave ride and a short turn, staying faultless in 30.22 seconds. For Eleonora Ljungman (GBR) and Jamaica Ebh, a pole (4/35.08) was scored; Noah Philips-De Vuyst (SUI) received four penalty points for a refusal (4/44.66). With that, gold, silver, and bronze were decided.
The result of the Children here
Individual finals for the young riders: Gold for Rachel Proudley at her first European Championships
British rider Rachel Proudley celebrated a sensational success at her very first championship: Bronze with the team and gold in the boys’ individual event. In June, the 19-year-old had even broken her own record in a show jumping competition when she flew over a 2.20-meter high wall on the CSI3* Bolesworth. Today, the young rider from North Yorkshire showed everyone why she was nominated for the British team for the European Championships this year. On the saddle of the 14-year-old Irish-bred mare Quality Street, she didn’t make a single mistake throughout the week. With only 0.7 points, she finished the individual final of the FEI Jumping European Championships as the last rider and remained faultless again. This meant the gold medal.
Proudley has been training with Irish success rider Richard Howley for two years, and understandably he was very proud of his pupil: “Rachel is a very talented rider. She is only 19 years old and has so far only had very little experience at this level or in any kind of championship. But she once again showed her true class as a rider and her skills. Throughout the whole week she was simply strong.”
The French rider Eden Leprevost Blinlebreton won the silver medal on the 11-year-old filly Barbie de la Roque Z. She also finished the tournament without a single fault — no wonder, because equestrian sports are in her blood. Both of her parents are professional riders; her mother is no less than the Olympic team gold medalist Pénélope Leprevost. Mathieu Guery, son of the Olympic rider Jérôme Guery, was allowed to celebrate team gold with his teammates on Saturday; on Sunday afternoon, the Belgian added a bronze medal to his haul. He too remained faultless in both rounds.
The decision regarding the European Championships medals in the individual ranking for the young riders was the last competition of this weekend in Riesenbeck. The dressage team consisting of Peter Schumacher (GER), Phil Schmauder (GER), and Petr Maśek (CZE) also gave the young talent a fair task today as well.
The result of the young riders here
Summary of the FEI Jumping European Championship Riesenbeck 2025
President of the event and host Ludger Beerbaum„The feedback from the participants, the owners, coaches, and fans who were here couldn’t be better. It’s really incredible. It wasn’t exactly easy, because we only really jumped in at short notice and had to put considerable effort behind the scenes for the nine-day event.
Tournament director Karsten Lütteken:
„Our biggest goal, which we had at the beginning, has definitely been achieved. We wanted to offer a championship that has the same quality standards as a senior championship. We wanted to treat the young junior riders just as we treat the world-renowned professionals, giving them the same attention, the same good conditions, and procedures. This professionalism should offer the active participants a worthy sport, but also give them the feeling that with all the championship pressure they can relax a little and feel confident that everything around here is organized that way and that the sport can take center stage.
This also includes working with everyone who isn’t always in Riesenbeck. Starting with the service providers. We have involved many people we have worked with for a long time to ensure the desired quality can be achieved.
The course director Peter Schumacher and his team stand out in the whole process. He has really designed courses that are adapted to a championship, the age categories, the horses, the riders and the situation. It is becoming increasingly clear that Peter Schumacher is one of the best course builders in the world. When you saw the children’s competition today, you felt like you were at the Olympics. There it was exactly after five rounds that three people won the medals – you couldn’t have staged it better. This example clearly illustrates what the whole event describes. We are extremely happy, proud and happy, and we hope to send many happy people home.
Eberhard Seemann, youth coach for children and juniors at the German Equestrian Federation (FN):
About the conditions at Riesenbeck International:
„Overall, it was a successful event. The fixed stables for the horses – the horses are well accommodated. The parking situation was excellently solved, so that each nation could place their trucks well and also have their own retreat areas there. The riding opportunities are excellent. The organizer also put a lot of effort into it; the ground was renovated. They always used the roller track, they took breaks – the preparation of the grounds was therefore optimal. The grooming in the hall was very good. There were plenty of opportunities to work on the horses that were not in the starting lineup. There were opportunities to lunge – so overall, it was very exciting. I have only heard positive things from other nations. It was a very nice European Championships!“
To highlight the performance of the German riders in the Children, Junior and Junior Men categories:
„Of course, we have to highlight the Children for their gold medal. That was great! The individual final didn’t really go according to plan for us. We had two riders with Johanna Hell and Justus Thomsen, who were still leading with zero fault points. There was hope that at least one of them would make the final because the performances in the lead-up were very, very good. Unfortunately, our nerves played a trick on us a bit and in the end, it was also the condition and mental stamina, as well as the concentration that let us down. Nevertheless, the other three were all zero, delivered a great final and deserved to win. Luisa Charlotte Brocks had a mistake in the Nations’ Cup, a flawless round today. She is now in a great 5th place.
Personally, I also hoped for a medal in the juniors. It was quite within reach. Unfortunately, luck wasn’t on our side. I don’t want to just blame everything on bad luck. We had one or two riding errors too. But afterwards it was tight, we had too many errors and therefore missed out on a medal in the team. Fabio Thielen had a really annoying mistake in the individual event; otherwise he would have won an individual medal as well. It was a shame; I would have still wished for a medal in the team or in the individual event.
The performances by the young riders were already a bit disappointing. With the team's performance in 11th place, of course we cannot be satisfied.“