Steve Guerdat is Crowned Individual World Champion — History Written in Aachen with Five Perfect Rounds.

Not a single fault across five rounds. Not a single rail. Steve Guerdat and Dynamix de Belheme wrote a unique page in the history of world show jumping.

Steve Guerdat (SUI), individual Olympic champion at London 2012, European champion, three-time World Cup winner and now World Champion, completed the most extraordinary cycle in the history of individual show jumping by claiming gold at the FEI Jumping World Championship Aachen 2026 with 0.86 accumulated penalties, his only penalty score coming from the opening speed class under Table C. In the LONGINES-Prize grand final, Guerdat and Dynamix de Belheme were flawless across both decisive rounds. “I always said I didn’t want to end my career without having won in Aachen. The fact that this dream has now come true, and at a World Championship of all events, is something truly special and simply indescribable. My life is different now; I have achieved everything I ever dreamt of.”

With this title, Guerdat becomes only the second rider in history to claim all four major individual titles in show jumping, Olympic gold, World Championship gold, Team European gold and three World Cups, joining Brazil’s Rodrigo Pessoa, who won WEG gold in Rome 1998, Olympic gold in Athens 2004 and was three-time World Cup champion in 1998, 1999 and 2000, as well as two Pan American team golds in 1995 and 2007, the equivalent of the European Championship as the most important regional team event.

Dynamix de Belheme is a 13-year-old bay SF mare (Snaike de Blondel x Cornet Obolensky) owned by C.H.C. Horses SA and La Giraffa SA, a mount Guerdat described with barely contained emotion. “You don’t just automatically encounter such an extraordinary horse as this one every four years, let alone one you get to compete in a World Championship with.”

Thibeau Spits Claims Individual Silver — A Generation Just Getting Started

Thibeau Spits (BEL), aged just 25, claimed the individual silver medal with 5.60 accumulated penalties with Impress-K van’t Kattenheye Z, an 11-year-old black Zangersheide stallion (Indoktro K van’t Kattenheye x Vagabond de la Pomme) owned by Spits BV, two days after winning team silver with Belgium. “My career is just beginning, and things could hardly be better than they are right now. It will be hard to ever repay him for what he does for me. He is simply incredible.”

Harry Charles — From 23rd to Bronze in a Historic Comeback

Harry Charles (GBR) delivered the most extraordinary comeback of the individual final, leaping from twenty-third place to the bronze medal with LT Holst Freda, a 12-year-old grey NZWB mare (Colman x Casall) owned by Eve Jobs and Charles himself, with 7.17 accumulated penalties. Two flawless rounds in the final session turned the unlikely into reality. “I was very unhappy that I wasn’t able to present this mare the way she deserved,” admitted the 27-year-old. “At one point I even considered not competing in the Final at all, given my score. I asked ChatGPT if I still had a chance, and the answer was: ‘Unlikely, but not impossible!'” And indeed, it was.

Piergiorgio Bucci (ITA), world No. 14, finished fourth with Hantano, a 14-year-old bay KWPN gelding (Quasimodo Z x Numero Uno) owned by Eriberto Bucci and Karina Frederiks, with 7.57 accumulated penalties, in what was also an extraordinary year for the Italian on the world’s most demanding stages.

The Region — Roberto Terán Tafur Makes History for Colombia

Roberto Terán Tafur (COL), No. 11 in the Tu Mundo Ecuestre Latin Show Jumping Ranking, delivered the best result in history for a Colombian rider and one of the finest Latin performances in the championship’s history, finishing fifth in the world with Dez’ Ooktoff, an 18-year-old bay KWPN stallion (Colandro x Lys Rouge), with 7.58 accumulated penalties, in the grand final alongside the best riders on the planet.

Laura Kraut (USA), No. 2 in the Tu Mundo Ecuestre Pan American Show Jumping Ranking, fourteenth. Stephan Barcha (BRA), Latin Ranking leader, seventeenth with 4 faults in the final round with Chevaux Primavera Imperio Egipcio. Eugenio Garza Pérez (MEX) eighteenth with 4 faults with Contago. McLain Ward (USA) twenty-first with 8 faults with High Star Hero. Carlos Hank Guerreiro (MEX) twenty-third with 8 faults with H5 Shaq Attack.

Final Top 25 — LONGINES-Prize | FEI Jumping World Championship Aachen 2026