Sweden’s Frida Andersen and Box Leo. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
Sweden has revealed its team for the forthcoming European Championships at Haras du Pin, France (August 9–13). The Swedes, who qualified for next year’s Paris Olympics at the World Championships in Pratoni last year, have won team medals at each of the last three Europeans: in 2017 at Strzegom, they took the silver, and in 2019 at Luhmühlen and 2021 at Avenches, they took bronze. At each of those, they came in to the Championships with plenty of pressure to earn one of the two available tickets for Paris, which are awarded to the two best-placed as-yet-unqualified nations — and this year, without that pressure, they’re able to use the competition to truly develop their horses and riders ahead of next year.
Unlike many other nations, who will decide their team of four closer to the event or, indeed, at the deadline after the first horse inspection, Sweden’s chef d’equipe Fredrik Bergendorff has already revealed his team and individuals.
The team horses and riders are as follows:
- Frida Andersen and Box Leo
- Sara Algotsson-Ostholt and Dynamite Jack
- Sofia Sjöborg and Bryjamolga van het Marienshof Z
- Amanda Staam and Corpoubet AT
The individual competitors will be:
- Lina Forsberg and Kaizen
- Niklas Lindbäck and Focus Filiocus
The line-up mixes experience with new faces: both Sopot CCI4*-L winner Amanda Staam and Lina Forsberg make their Senior Championship debuts at Haras du Pin, while 25-year-old Sofia Sjöborg, who was best of the Swedes in 13th place with Bryjamolga van het Marienshof Z at Avenches, where she competed as an individual, makes her second team call-up with the mare after helping Sweden to that Olympic qualification at Pratoni. They’re joined by Olympian Frida Anderson and Box Leo, recently eighth at Aachen and top-twenty finishers at Pratoni last year, four-time Olympian and six-time Senior Europeans competitor Sara Algotsson-Ostholt, who won this spring’s CCI4*-L at Kronenburg with ten-year-old Dynamite Jack, and Olympian and five-time Europeans competitor Niklas Lindbäck, who competed in medal-winning teams in both 2017 and 2019 with Focus Filiocus.
“It can be an advantage, as for Amanda and Lina, to do just one EC as their first senior championship,” says Bergendorff. “Giving them the chance to experience a championship feels like a plus for the whole team, because if any of them were to take the next step and be ready for an Olympics or World Championship, it would be an incredible asset.”
That development for the future, he explains, is the primary goal of the Championship.
“We will have a good championship so we can learn lessons that will make us stronger for the Olympics. Of course, a good final position also gives a lot of positive spirit in the team. Considering the level of the other teams, it might be difficult to come home with a medal, even if it would have been fantastic. But we want to be close with good performances.”
EN’s coverage of the FEI European Championships for Eventing is brought to you with support from Kentucky Performance Products.
