Victoria Max-Theurer leaves Paris with her head held high

Ninth place in the team competition with her partner Stefan Lehfellner and Florian Bacher, 17th place in the individual final: Austria’s top dressage rider Victoria Max-Theurer made a lasting impression on Abegglen at her sixth and perhaps last Summer Olympics in front of the picturesque backdrop of the Palace of Versailles. It remains to be seen whether the 38-year-old from Rohr im Kremstal will compete again in Los Angeles in 2028.

“Now let’s enjoy the fact that we got to the point,” said Max-Theurer, who rode in front of the eyes of US rapper Snoop Dogg, who had dressed up appropriately for the horse festival.

Image: APA

“}”>

Very stylish: Snoop Dogg
Image: APA

The joint training with dressage icon Isabell Werth, who rose to become Germany’s record medal winner (8 x gold, 6 x silver) with the team and is now an eight-time Olympic champion, has paid off for “Vici”. “Isabell is an outstanding horsewoman, we are now friends,” emphasized Max-Theurer, who had a solid performance on Sunday but did not come close to her 13th place in London 2012. This was also due to a moment of shock at the start. Her gelding Abegglen was irritated by the unrest in the packed stands.

“That was a relatively expensive mistake,” admitted Max-Theurer. Apart from that, the result is satisfactory: “I am very, very happy. We were among the best 18 in the world, which is an absolute reward for the past eight years.” Max-Theurer is thinking about Tokyo 2021, where she was unable to compete because Abegglen was suffering from a festering molar.

The individual competition in Paris was dominated by the German athletes: Jessica von Bredow-Werndl won ahead of Werth. Bronze went to Briton Charlotte Fry.