AACHEN, Germany--Great Britain leads Eventing on 75.6 penalties and has a little over three fences in hand over Germany with 90.4 penalties and Switzerland with 106.5 following the cross country on Saturday, Nov. 15.

Will Coleman on Diabolo (Photo by Sarah Miller for MacMillan Photo)The U.S. is fifth on 112.3, just behind Ireland on 110.1 and just ahead of France on 113.9.

Individually, it''s incredibly close at the top, with Michael Jung of Germany on fischerChipmunk FRH leading on his dressage score of 23 over Rosiland Carter of Great Britain on Lordships Graffalo on her dressage score of 23.4 and Laura Collett of Great Britain on London 52 on 23.6.

Will Coleman on Diabolo is sixth, finishing on his dressage score of 30, just behind Tim McEwen of Great Britain on JL Dublin with 28.6 and Christoph Wahler of Germany on D'Accord FRH with 29.4.

Only five were double clear cross country, no jumping and no time faults.

 

TAMIE SMITH on Lillet 3, riding as an Individual, is 18th wit 35.0. Boyd Martin on Cooley Nutcracker is 23rd with 37.3, Phillip Dutton on Denim is 33rd with 45.0 while Caroline Pamukcu on HSH Blake was eliminated after a fall.

Tamra Smith on Lillet 3 (Photo by Allen MacMillan)With scores so close, much will hinge on Sunday's show jumping.

"Diabolo was amazing," said Coleman, who finished on his dressage score of 30.0. "He was better than his rider today. I can't say enough good things about him."

"It was a tense cross country course, a bit frenetic," said Coleman. "I think he'll get something out of this. I thought the course rode the way I thought it would."

"I was so impressed with this horse," said Martin. "He was nervous and tricky in the warm-up, but once he was out of the start box he was all business."

Nutcracker started with a hood over his ears, but after a few fences, Martin pulled it off and threw it into the crowd.

"He was a little spooky with the noise at first, but once he settled in I wanted to give him more air in his ears," said Martin.

Boyd Martin on Cooley Nutcracker (Photo by Sarah Miller for MacMillan Photo)The course was lined with huge, very enthusiastic and loud crowds of 35,000 spectators.

I was set to go the hard way at the bank, but I didn't want to go crashing, so I listened to the coaches," said Martin. "I felt obligated to have a clean round. It was just a little slower way."

"Lillet was super," said Smith."She was everything I hoped she'd be. It was a fast and furious cross country course, but she's such a cross country machine."

"She's only 10 and green, but I rode her like a seasoned horse and she acted like one," said Smith." I took the long way at the bank and the option at the end of the course because I didn't know what she knows, and I didn't want to risk anything. I decided jump the jumps first and then get the time. She's so young, but she has a great career ahead of her."

Jung's Chipmunk, leading with a clean round, is incredible at 18 years old.

Phillip Dutton on Denim (Photo by Allen MacMillan)He has win championships all over the world.

“That was pure joy,” said Jung."He’s a bit like a fine wine, he just keeps getting better. He was wonderful jumping everywhere. He was so powerful and so with me."

"The crowd was amazing," said Jung. "There's big pressure for tomorrow. Everyone has to jump clean."

The concluding phase, the show jumping, which will decide who wins the medals in both the individual and team competitions, will be staged in the Main Stadium Sunday at 1:00 p.m., 7 a.m. Eastern.

Michael Jung has one single goal: “Not to make the same mistake as in 2022.”

Back then, at the World Championships in Pratoni, he missed out on winning the individual gold medal after knocking a rail at the last fence.

Michael Jung on fischer Chipmunk (Photo by Kim MacMillan)“That’s obviously still on my mind,” Jung admitted frankly. “But we already had a few slip-ups in the dressage yesterday. I hope those are the only ones that happen this weekend.”