IRELAND couldn’t quite live up to their favourites tag at the FEI Jumping World Championships in Aachen last weekend, but they did secure the all-important qualification for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics during a thrilling week at the German home of show jumping.

It was the home team of Marcus Ehning (Coolio 42), Sophie Hinners (Iron Dames Singclair), Daniel Deusser (Otello de Guldenboom) and Richard Vogel (United Touch S), who remarkably completed both rounds of the team final over two days without lowering a single rail, making Germany the only nation to achieve the feat and take an emphatic victory in front of 40,000 adoring fans.