Facts: Henrik von Eckermann
Born: May 25, 1981.
Lives: Kessel, Netherlands.
Family: Engaged to Janika Sprunger, Swiss elite rider. Together they have a son Noah.
Leading horses: King Edward and Glamor Girl.
Main achievements: Olympic gold in team 2021, WC silver team 2018, EC silver team 2017, EC bronze team 2013, Olympic fourth individual 2021, EC fifth 2011, third in the World Cup finals 2017 and 2018. Achievement gold 2021, Jerring prize 2021 (both together with Peder Fredricson and Malin Baryard Johnsson).
Other: On King Edward, von Eckermann was the only rider not to break an obstacle at the Olympics in Tokyo.
World ranking: New world number one.
The International Equestrian Federation, FEI, has released its latest list – with the news that is pleasing for Swedish equestrian sport: For the third time, a Swedish rider stands above all others in the monthly ranking.
“Going to the WC in Herning as the new world number one makes you want to prove that you are at the top of the rankings for a reason. It will be a very long and tough week because there are so many things that can go wrong… But I have a great feeling and King Edward, and myself, are in fantastic shape. I’m really looking forward to competing in Herning,” says Henrik von Eckermann in a press release.
“An incredible feat”
Previously, Rolf-Göran Bengtsson and Peder Fredricson topped the world ranking, Fredricson for eight months as late as between October 2021 and May this year.
Henrik von Eckermann recently passed his national team mate Fredricson and moved up to second place. This summer’s success means that he now passes the Swiss Martin Fuchs.
It is so close between von Eckermann and Fuchs that the FEI had to check the points earned. First, the FEI released a ranking with Fuchs still number one, but in the revised ranking the Swede had slipped past.
“For me, this is the biggest achievement of my career – it’s one thing to win a race and stay at a high level for a weekend, but to be number one you have to be at a consistently high level and manage to reach 30 good results to get more than 3000 points.
Team competition first
The WC jumping starts on Wednesday, first with the team competition decided on Friday. On Sunday next week, the top 25 teams will settle for the individual medals.
Other Swedish crews in the WC jumping are Peder Fredricson on All in and Malin Baryard Johnsson on Indiana. Union captain Henrik Ankarcrona has not yet announced which of the teams Jens Fredricson/Markan Cosmopolit and Rolf-Göran Bengtsson/Ermindo completes the trio.
The WC begins on Saturday with the team competition in dressage.