Beezie Madden; “It was an honour to be invited here, especially on the 100th anniversary. It was great sport today and super atmosphere, and I think we had a fabulous effort from everybody on the team and that made the win even better.”
Lucy Davis; “Like Beezie siad, we are all really excited to be here with our girl team. It was nice that everybody could contribute with a clear score, and luckily we always have Beezie at the end that saves us. So we are very happy to come out on top.”
Laura Kraut; “I want to thank the organisers and the sponsors, it was a great event today. The atmosphere was electric, and to have a jump-off like that is thrilling no matter the outcome - and we were happy to have Beezie pull through for us today.”
US Chef d Equipe Robert Ridland; “This was a huge team effort. It is great to win, and even more with a jump-off. And then to have every rider to contribute the way the did, that was just amazing. We had a team dinner last night, and I have to remind them every once in a while how much older I am then them. I first rode internationally in Germany in 1970 and Bertalan de Némethy - legendary US coach - would always remind us that the birth place of our sport is here in Germany, so when we got the invitation to come to the 100th Nations Cup here - the riders were incredibly excited and we are very grateful and honoured to be here."
Belgian Chef d Equipe Dirk Demeersman; “I am very happy that we could have an invitation here, and when we are at a German Nations Cup like this we of course want to do our best. Last year we won in Aachen, this year we are second - but we can absolutely live with that.”
Pieter Devos; “I am very happy with my result. My horse was out for a few months and I was a little bit nervous today as it was his first big test at a five star show again, and I did not really feel sure how he would jump - but the feeling was really good. It was not so easy to lift off, as he was a bit angry - but when we got off it went well. We had a very good team spirit, and I think that is very important. We saw some very good sport today, and it was a very good course in my opinion - we had three double clears in the end.”
German Chef d Equipe Otto Becker; "It was exciting all the way, and until the last rider. I think we had a very good Nations Cup; of course we would love to win here at the 100th Nations Cup of Germany - but I think all four riders presented themselves in a very good way. As to the jump-off, we all know that Beezie is really fast and it would be almost impossible to catch her, we had the chance in the second round to secure it but it slipped - and Christian had to take all the risk to catch Beezie in the jump-off instead. To have the last down like he had that happens then. Nevertheless, it was a good competition from all our four riders. The atmosphere in the team was super, and also the fact that other riders not on the team for today came to support and help on the warm-up and during the competition. So, in the end a good day for us and we fought to the end.”
Christian Ahlmann; “I was very happy with my first round, Taloubet presented himself in a very good way. One fault in the second round, that was unnecessary and also unlucky - it was just a light touch. If that would not have happened, we would not have had the drama with a jump-off. I tried in the jump-off, in the end with a pole down - and not fast enough either. I was hoping for a bit of a better result, and hope we will come back better next time - especially for the Europeans, and that we can be in front then.”