Germany Take Team Jumping Gold in Aachen as Seven LA28 Tickets Are Punched
The hosts completed a team treble at the FEI World Championships while the jumping team final doubled as a first big Olympic qualifier for Los Angeles 2028.
The road to Los Angeles 2028 ran through Aachen this week. Germany won team jumping gold at the FEI World Championships on home soil on Friday, finishing on 4.48 penalties — and just as importantly, the final locked in the first wave of Olympic team places in the discipline.
According to the Chronicle of the Horse, the winning German quartet was Marcus Ehning (Coolio 42), Sophie Hinners (Iron Dames Singclair), Daniel Deusser (Otello de Guldenboom) and Richard Vogel (United Touch S). Belgium took silver on 11.69 penalties and Great Britain — anchored by Ben Maher and Scott Brash — claimed bronze on 12.98. The United States just missed the podium in fourth on 16.85.
Who booked their spot
The result decided seven LA28 team quota places: Germany, Belgium, Great Britain, Italy, Switzerland, Ireland and France, with the US already qualified as host nation, per the Chronicle's report and Olympics.com.
It caps a dominant home championships for Germany, which also won the dressage team final, while Great Britain took the eventing team title — each of those finals also handing out Olympic quota places for 2028.
What's next
The championships close Sunday with the individual jumping final, and it is set up beautifully: Switzerland's Steve Guerdat and Germany's Deusser share the lead on 0.86 penalties heading into the deciding rounds, per the Chronicle of the Horse.
Why it matters: equestrian is one of the first sports to hand out LA28 team places, two full years before the Games. For the seven nations that qualified in Aachen, planning for Los Angeles starts now. For everyone else, the route just got narrower.