The Swiss team takes Nations Cup victory in the Pratoni test event in May. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
What a treat – we’re now on our second Olympic team announcement of the day, following the release of Japan’s line-up earlier this morning.
Now, it’s Switzerland who we’ve got our eyes on. Four horses and riders have just been revealed by the Swiss Federation, and while it’s not been confirmed yet which three will be on the team proper and which will go to Paris as travelling reserve, it’s still rather an exciting day to be an eventing fan, all things considered.
The four selected horses and riders are as follows:
- Robin Godel and Grandeur de Lully – sixteen-year-old Swiss Sport Horse gelding (Greco de Lully CH x Miola, by Apartos) – owned by Jean-Jacques Fünfschilling
- Mélody Johner and Toubleu de Rueire – seventeen-year-old Selle Français gelding (Mr Blue x La Guna de Rueire) – owned by Peter Thürler & Heinz-Günter Wickenhäuser
- Nadja Minder and Toblerone – seventeen-year-old Swiss Warmblood gelding (Summer Song x Medelyne, breeding unknown) – owned by Nicole Basieux
- Felix Vogg and Dao de l’Ocean – eleven-year-old Selle Français gelding (Kannan x Heddy, by Heraldik) – owned by Phoenix Eventing Sàrl
Felix Vogg and Dao de l’Ocean. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
It’s an exciting team, whichever way it unfolds, for Swiss chef d’equpe Dominik Burger, dressage coach Gilles Ngovan, cross country coach Andrew Nicholson and jumping coach Markus Fuchs: Robin, Mélody, and Felix were each part of the Tokyo Olympics line-up, though only Mélody returns with the same horse, and Nadja, though just 24, has already become a stalwart of the Swiss team too, with World and European Championships behind here. This year, Robin and Grandeur de Lully have won two CCI4*-S classes in a row, at Strzegom and Avenches, the latter of which also crowned them the Swiss National Champions, while Mélody and Toubleu de Rueire have been in the top six of their three international starts. Nadja and Toblerone completed their five-star debut at Pau in October and have been fourth at Strzegom’s CCI4*-S this spring, as well as top twenty finishers in Luhmühlen’s smoking hot final qualifier last week. Felix and Dao de l’Ocean were winners in the CCI4*-S in Wiesbaden and second at Avenches CCIO4*-S. It’s been 64 years since Switzerland won an Olympic medal – they were team silver medallists in 1960 in Rome, while Anton Bühler and Gay Spark were individual bronze medallists that year – but we reckon if any line-up is going to give the fairytale ending to the inexorable rise of the Swiss front over the last Olympic cycle, this is the one.
There’s also a stellar line-up of alternates named, which are as follows:
- Robin Godel and Global DHI
- Nadja Minder and Top Job’s Jalisco
- Patrick Rüegg and Fifty Fifty
- Philip Ryan and Amansara
- Felix Vogg and Colero (subject to gaining a confirmation result at Strzegom this week)
- Felix Vogg and Cartania
View more of EN’s coverage of the Paris Olympics here. We are pleased to bring you our Olympic coverage with support from Kentucky Performance Products.
