Ireland’s Young Riders win silver medal at European Championships
Ireland added to their medal haul at the 2025 FEI Jumping European Championships after the Young Riders (Under-21) team secured silver in Riesenbeck this afternoon.
On a dramatic afternoon in Germany, Michael Blake’s squad of Tim Brennan, Max Foley, Niamh McEvoy, Tom Wachman and Coen Williams just gave way to a talented Belgian team, who had traded blows with the Irish over three days of jumping.
The result completes a fantastic 24 hours which has seen Ireland’s Youths dominate the landscape of the championships, with the Junior team landing gold on Thursday and Irish individuals firmly in contention for medals across both age categories over the weekend.
“I’m very proud,” said Horse Sport Ireland High Performance Show Jumping Manager Blake.
“We’ve been thereabouts all week, sitting just behind the leaders after day one and putting ourselves in pole position after a zero score yesterday. That meant we were the ones the rest needed to chase down but that was exactly where these riders wanted to be.
“They are talented, gritty and full of character and they really wanted to hold onto their crown to win three championships in-a-row. I couldn’t be prouder of them because we knew coming into the class today that there would be no room for error and if we could deliver a performance as close to perfect as possible we would not be beaten.
“That’s jumping, though, you can’t win them all but we’ve had a brilliant championships with this silver medal adding to the junior gold and we still have plenty of individuals in line for medals over the weekend.
“A huge thank you to everyone who has made this possible – it can’t be done without the unwavering support of the athletes’ parents and owners – there are huge support systems around these riders and everyone can be very proud.
“We have had fantastic support here in Riesenbeck all week, from the staff to our vert Seamus McSorley and everyone behind the scenes who make this all possible as well as our wonderful sponsors.”
Ireland held a slender advantage after the first two days of competition, having produced six clear rounds already before this afternoon and the task was simple; three more clears and they could not be caught.
First in was Wachman and Obora’s Laura, who had sat 11th overnight individually and had jumped a clear round yesterday on the second day of proceedings.
Wachman has been in fine form of late and he proved why Blake sent him in first for Ireland, delivering a crucial clear to apply massive pressure on Belgium, who had a four-fault score with their first combination.
Williams and Floris R Z were foot perfect, leaving all poles standing, but did go over the time for three time penalties.
Brennan and his speedy mare Diadema della Caccia, who has been breathtaking throughout the event, were next to jump. Brennan came into today lying in second place individually, and his quest for individual honours continues, although that medal is out of his own hands after he dropped the middle pole of the combination for a total of four faults and thus handing Belgium the initiative.
Their final rider produced a clear round under severe pressure to land gold, regaining the crown they last won in 2022 on a score of 5.72, with Ireland finishing on 7.61.
Niamh McEvoy and BP Rocket Man were ninth overnight and climbed to fifth with yet another clear round on BP Rocket Man to round off the team event and keep her individual dreams alive.
Brennan lies in seventh place overall, one slot behind Wachman in sixth.
BREEDING: BP Rocket Man (ISH) – 2017 gelding by Stakkato Gold out of BP Quidy (ISH) by Quidam Junior. Breeder: Austin Broderick. Owner: Richard Kirby
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