– I would be lying if I said that it will not always be a small scar, says von Eckermann to SVT in Barcelona, where the Swedish team will participate in the League of Nations final on Sunday.
All the stars seemed to align with world number one von Eckermann and super horse King Edward in top form in the beautiful grounds of the Palace of Versailles and the start of the show jumping also went according to plan.
– I had that horse in the form he was in and then not succeed. That is the scar that will be but as with all scars they will fade a little bit and that is something I will take with me and hopefully make something positive out of it, says von Eckermann.
Chasing prestigious team title
The Swedish team has both Olympic, World Cup and European Championship gold but has never won the League of Nations and it is a title that looms large.
– It is one of the finals we have never won, so of course we want to put the Swedish flag in first place, says von Eckermann.
The Swedish riders have had a good start to the competitions in the Spanish Mediterranean city. Rolf-Göran Bengtsson finished second with Zuccero HV in yesterday’s Grand Prix class and Henrik von Eckermann finished fourth with King Edward.
King Edward has had a longer planned holiday after the Olympics but the world number one is enjoying the 14-year-old gelding’s return to competition.
– It’s fantastic, every time I get to race him it’s an experience. He feels in great shape and jumps well so I’m looking forward to Sunday’s final.
The competition is broadcast on SVT1 starting at 1.50pm on Sunday.
Watch the clip with Henrik von Eckerman’s analysis of the Olympics in Paris.
Sweden made it to the final as the second-ranked team after Ireland.
Also suffering are Germany, Switzerland, Brazil, France, the USA and the Netherlands. Spain completes the starting field as host country.
The Swedish team: Henrik von Eckermann/King Edward, Peder Fredricson/Catch Me Not S, Malin Baryard-Johnsson/H&M Indiana and Rolf-Göran Bengtsson/Zuccero HV.
The final is decided over two rounds of 160 jumping, where four crews start in the first round (the three best are counted) and three crews start in the second round. The winner is the team with the least number of errors after both rounds. In the event of an equal number of errors, there is a jump-off for the victory, then with one starting rider per team.
The nation that wins the final is directly qualified for next year’s league. The other nine places in the league go to the highest ranked nations on a special nation ranking
Source: Swedish Equestrian Association