For the second year in a row, Olivier is participating at the World Cup Finals. This year's host is Gothenburg (Sweden). It's a unique year for Belgium, as no less than five out of eighteen riders are Belgian. Not only Olivier, but also Niels Bruynseels, Pieter Devos, François Mathy and Gudrun Patteet are selected for the finals. The FEI World Cup finals kick off this Thursday.
Olivier made his debut last year in Paris during the endgame of the World Cup. He rode a surprisingly strong championship with his mare H&M Legend of Love. It was Beezie Madden who won, but Olivier and H&M Legend of Love finished fifth.
“I’m so looking forward to this final.”, Says Olivier. “I got focus. I worked intensly towards the final and I set my mind it. Legend enjoyed six weeks of rest after Jumping Mechelen. She started to prepare herself in Oliva with the smaller classes, but went to Dortmund and ‘s Hertogenbosch afterwards. Everything went smooth in our preparation. Both Legend and I are ready for it.”.
It starts with a speedclass on Thursday, on Friday a class with jump-off, Saturday is a day off, to be totally ready for D-Day on Sunday, the highlight of the week, the last chance to fight for the golden medal. “Of course our goal is to start with the best ranking as possible on Sunday. The final on the last day is very hard. A faire but extremely tough fight decides who’s taking home the medals. It doesn’t make sense to forecast the outcome, we’ll see how it goes.”, concludes Olivier.
