As soon as he crossed the finish line, Boyd Exell couldn’t remain seated on the driver’s box. While the crowd was giving the Australian driver a standing ovation, the 54-year-old already jumped down and ran to his horses – the four geldings, who had just helped him secure his eighth World Championship title. Daan, Hero, Mister Bono van ’t Hooge and the veteran of his team, 19-year-old Checkmate, received plenty of affectionate pats and quiet words of gratitude from their driver, who later emphasised: “Success like this isn’t possible without the horses. I am incredibly proud of them.” Then, Exell climbed back onto the driver’s box. To the melody of “Life is Life” and accompanied by the rhythmic clapping of the audience in the packed Stadium 2 at the Allianz Park, the experienced athlete basked in the celebration. It was his eighth gold medal –finally a victory in Aachen, after having missed the 2006 FEI World Equestrian Games due to injury.

Throughout the event at the Allianz Park, Boyd Exell had underlined how much this triumph means to him. “I have quite a few pupils competing here,” the 54-year-old said. “But they all understood that I needed to focus on myself.” The spectators witnessed just how impressively he accomplished this task on Sunday: Driving at high speed in an extended trot, Exell guided his team through the cone course, chose tight lines with precision and maintained full control from start to finish. The 0.3 penalty points for exceeding the time limit ultimately didn’t matter. With a total of 142.64 penalty points, the Australian driver safely secured the lead he had established during the Dressage and Marathon phases. When asked how long he planned to celebrate, he laughed and replied: “For weeks. Perhaps even the next two years.”

Dries Degrieck was delighted to win the silver medal in the Prize of Family Richard Talbot. The Belgian driver displayed impressive composure during the final cone driving phase, finishing on just 1.13 penalty points. “It was a great feeling,” said Degrieck, reflecting on his total score of 148.85 penalty points and his first individual World Championship medal. “My horses and I really enjoyed the atmosphere here in Aachen. It was breath-taking.” The third beaming face on the podium belonged to the American athlete, Chester Weber, who had made it a nail-biting affair through to the end. After crossing the finish line with a cone penalty and exceeding the time allowed, he kept puffing out his cheeks in suspense. Once he realised the bronze medal was definitely his, the 48-year-old began his victory lap. “This medal belongs to the whole team – and, of course, first and foremost to my horses,” stated, Weber, summing up the stadium atmosphere in a single word: “Wow!”

The Dutch four-in-hand driver, Bram Chardon, delivered the best round of the day in the Prize of Event Rent GmbH. Although the 33-year-old’s dream of an individual medal didn’t materialise, he still had every reason to celebrate: Together with his father, Ijsbrand Chardon, and the previous day’s Marathon winner, Koos de Ronde, he triumphed in the team competition for the Baron und Baronin von Buchholtz Prize. The team finished on a total score of 315.13 penalty points. “We knew we had to give it our all to win here,” said Bram Chardon. “The fact that we actually pulled it off is simply wonderful.” The Team World Champions from the Netherlands claimed first position on the podium, followed by the teams from Australia and Belgium in second and third place with 317.25 and 325.52 penalty points, respectively.