Italian flags flew high when Lorenzo Lupacchini and Silvia Stopazzini jumped on the podium after winning gold in the vaulting pas de deux competition at the Fédération Equestre Internationale 2018 World Equestrian Games, which take place through Sunday at the Tryon International Equestrian Center.

Silver went to Austria’s overnight leaders Lindner/Wacha, and bronze went to Germany’s Derks/Kay.

The world’s No.1 pair from Italy set all their heart in the freestyle, earning 9.027 with high nines for artistic value as well as the technical execution. 

Lupacchini had set his own ambitions as an individual vaulter aside for the sake of the pair’s competition and it was worth it. 

“We are really happy because we did what we prepared in training over this year,” he said.

In the end, it was the horse’s scores and a little wobble that put the Austrian title holders from WEG 2014 on silver. Jasmin Lindner and Lukas Wache have trained together for eight years, and won the first ever Pas de Deux World Championship title in 2012.

Understandably they were quite disappointed after they lost first place by 0.014 point, finishing on 9.013.

“We had invested a lot and then a small mistake in the beginning of the freestyle made all the difference,” said Wacha, the 31-year-old physiotherapist. 

Germany’s Janika Derks and Johannes Kay interpreted the emotions of energy to score 8.872.

Torben Jacobs and partner Theresa-Sophie Bresch (Germany), finishing fourth with a Spanish medley.

– Submitted article