Gemma Tattersall stops to chat with German team coach Chris Bartle. Photo by Jenni Autry.
Big news for Team Great Britain! The British Equestrian Federation (BEF) and British Eventing have today confirmed Chris Bartle in a newly created role of Performance Coach as part of the World Class eventing program.
When former German Eventing Team co-coach Chris Bartle applied to succeed Yogi Breisner as British Eventing Team coach in September, the job was his for the taking.
British Eventing Chief Executive David Holmes says, “We are incredibly lucky to have found such a strong and inspirational Performance Coach to take the British eventing squad forward. As you can appreciate the process of making senior appointments involves detailed and confidential discussions and is why we have been unable to make any announcement until this time, but are delighted to announce this news today and look forward to working with Christopher as we head towards Tokyo 2020.”
Since British-born Chris joined Hans Melzer as co-coach in 2001 the German team has achieved many successes at major championships, including multiple gold medals at the Olympics Games, World Equestrian Games and European Championships.
Left to right: Peter Thomsen, Josefa Sommer, Bettina Hoy, Josephine Schnaufer and Christopher Bartle. Photo: Trevor Holt/FEI.
In September he explained his motivation for applying for the new role: “That I would like to apply for this interesting and challenging position that might keep me well over the next four years to come closer to my home is also in the interest of my family.”
Certainly, British eventing extends him a warm and enthusiastic homecoming.
Clare Salmon, British Equestrian Federation Chief Executive, said of Chris’ appointment, “On behalf of BEF as well as British Eventing I am delighted to be able to share this news; Chris has a great wealth of knowledge and experience across all Olympic equestrian disciplines as a rider as well as achieving incredible results throughout his years with the German Senior Eventing team. We look forward to welcoming him back to his homeland and to the UK Sport Lottery Funded World Class Performance team in the New Year.”
The role will commence in January 2017.
