Bastion is presented during the Horse Inspection ahead of the FEI Vaulting World Championship 2026 in Aachen (GER) / © FEI/ Liz Gregg

12.08.2026

Jannik Heiland will compete for Germany at the FEI Vaulting World Championship in Aachen after a late change to the host nation’s line-up.

The FEI Vaulting World Cup Final™ silver medallist was the travelling reserve but has been called into the Individual Male competition after Rockemotion NRW was not presented at Tuesday’s Horse Inspection, ruling Leon Huesgen out.

Heiland will now challenge for a medal with Lars Hanson and Rey Rubino as the Championship gets under way.

The late change to Germany’s line-up was the major development from the Horse Inspection, which began on Tuesday and concluded with three horses passing re-inspection on Wednesday morning. A further two were withdrawn from the vet check.

Ninety-three horses from a record 27 nations were presented, with the order of presentation decided at the first draw, which saw Hungary begin and Finland close the proceedings. With the horses groomed to perfection, they put their best foot forward first in walk, then in trot away and back from Chief Veterinarian Dr Friedrich-Wilhelm Hanbücken, Foreign Vet Delegate Mark Sinnott and President of the Ground Jury Ute Schönian.

Prior to the Horse Inspection, the horses had their first glimpse of the competition circle with a walk in hand in Allianz Park’s Stadium 3. With the first stage of the competition complete, the Athletes had an evening to embrace the moment as they participated in the spectacular Opening Ceremony to welcome the Championship to Aachen once again.

Final declarations

On Wednesday, the Athletes and horses had their acclimatisation training in the main ring, an arena which is much larger than some horses will have ever experienced before. With five minutes per horse to use as they pleased, most Athletes found their horses comfortable with the set-up.

By 14:00 final declarations were confirmed and the Chefs d’Equipe gathered for the draw. After a welcome from Event Director Birgit Rosenberg and confirmation and clarification of the finer details of the competition logistics, the draw was completed by Schönian and Technical Delegate Doris Knotter.

Any double horse starts were drawn first to ensure enough time between them, with Athlete names and start numbers drawn from two separate silver bowls. Anticipation grew as the host nation’s females were all but last to be drawn. They all gained strong starting positions, with Kathrin Meyer 18th to start and Alice Layher 39th.

Switzerland’s Danielle Bürgi is down to compete with Grasshopper AF, after Soel’rings Million Voices withdrew from the vet check. She will enter 23rd but may yet change horse once she has had the opportunity to trial two in the main ring today as familiarisation continues past the time of the draw. Her decision must be made by 07:30 on Thursday morning.

Starting positions

In the Men’s draw, Germany’s Thomas Brüsewitz has possibly the most challenging start, entering first.

Challenging for gold, Quentin Jabet (FRA) is back-to-back with Austria’s Philip Clement at fifth and sixth, with Heiland in 14th, a comfortable starting position. Dutch Athlete Sam dos Santos had a tough decision to make as he entered with two top horses to decide between. He has chosen to compete on his family horse, Hero, lunged by sister Emy dos Santos, a combination which has been very successful in the past. They have a positive draw as the penultimate combination.

Thursday’s final competition is the Squad compulsory test where a record 16 will participate. Sweden will open the show, while France and Germany sit fairly close in the first half of the draw – in fourth and seventh – which should be good for comparison.

Uruguay’s debutants

The Pas-de-Deux is set to begin on Friday and will open with Sofia Rabaquino and Marina Stapff Gonzalez making Uruguay’s debut at this event.

It gets very interesting at the sixth start, as European champions Rebecca Greggio and Davide Zanella (ITA) are directly before French favourites Noely Thibaudat and Theo Gardies, who are immediately followed by the home nation’s Kimberly Hyks and Jannik Heiland. This sequence will really show the quality and favour an even playing field as the judges see them all together.

Greggio and Zanella will compete with Malleret Romulus TS for the first time ever. Although a little fresh, they looked good in official training.

The first medals will be won by the Individuals and Squads on Saturday 15 August, with the finals for Pas-de-Deux and the much-anticipated Official Team competition wrapping up the competition on Sunday.

FULL DRAW