“I couldn’t be happier,” said Dries Degrieck, summing up his dressage performance positively. The 31-year-old Belgian driver, who won the World Cup Final earlier this year, was particularly pleased with the performance of his four geldings – Kompleet VS, Karpos, Lancelot and the six-year-old, Parla Pardoux. “The young horse, in particular, presented itself superbly, which made me very proud,” Degrieck said. The individual bronze medallist from the 2025 European Championships finished on a score of 38.19 penalty points, confidently taking the lead after the first half of the field had competed. With this performance, the aspiring Belgian athlete underscored his current top form; at Rastede just recently, in late July, he asserted himself against the world elite, including Australia’s Boyd Exell and Bram Chardon from the Netherlands.

Ijsbrand Chardon (NED) and Christoph Sandmann (GER) are tying in second place after day one, both with a score of 44.78 penalty points. The 59-year-old German driver was a member of the team that competed at the 2006 FEI World Equestrian Games in Aachen. Back then, he won Team Gold and Individual Bronze. Twenty years later, he has returned to the Soers – this time alongside his daughter Anna, with whom he is representing Germany. “It was always our big goal to drive together on the same team. We have been working towards this for a long time,” the experienced driver reported. Tomorrow, he will be keeping his fingers crossed especially tightly for his daughter: In the afternoon, Anna Sandmann will perform her dressage phase, which is crucial for both the individual and team standings.

Belgium in the lead in the team classification

In the team classification, Belgium tops the rankings on 92.90 penalty points after the first half of the field has competed. They are followed by the Netherlands on 96.22 and Hungary on 115.34 penalty points.