World Riding Championships – Belgium finishes 7th in the team event in jumping and is not yet in Paris
(Belga) The Belgian team composed of Jérôme Guéry (Quel Homme de Hus), Nicola Philippaerts (Katanga van het Dingeshof), Jos Verlooy (Igor) and Grégory Wathelet (Nevados S) took 7th place in the event by World Equestrian Championship show jumping teams on Friday evening in Herning, Denmark. This result does not yet qualify the men of national coach Peter Weinberg for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. He was to rank among the first five nations or six if France finished in the top 5.
On Friday, the four Belgians had to complete a third and final course. Jérôme Guéry signed the best performance with only 1 candidacy point. Nicola Philippaerts gave him 4 sensitivity points and Jos Verlooy 8 points. Grégory Wathelet’s score with 12 penalty points was not retained. With a total of 26.49 points, the Belgian team finished in 7th place and therefore still had to wait before validating its ticket for the Paris Olympic Games. The world title went to Sweden (7.69) ahead of the Netherlands (19.31) and Great Britain (22.66). In the individual ranking, Jérôme Guéry 3rd (3.35), Nicola Philippaerts 16th (8.97) and Grégory Wathelet 42nd (18.52) rank among the top 60 to participate in the final which is played over two rounds on Sunday at 2:00 p.m. Jos Verlooy was eliminated Thursday after his fall following the refusal of his horse. (Belgian)