AWC 2024 Recap Day 3: Aneta Obrusníková writes Agility history

We are not even halfway through the World Championships and we have already witnessed something historic. Aneta Obrusníková and her three Mudis Chilli, Ollie and Arrya secured the Medium Team medal almost single-handedly. The second gold medal of the day in the Intermediate category also goes to the Czech Republic.

But first things first. The Large teams also started the competition early in the morning with their jumping. With a familiar picture, with Germany in the lead. Just ahead of the British and Spanish. The starting position for tomorrow’s Agility run definitely couldn’t be more exciting. We have seen the duel between the three nations again and again in recent years. Usually with the better end for Germany. At the top of the individual rankings, two other teams, Elodie Bertholier and Nicola Giraudi, set the pace. The decision for the Large teams will begin tomorrow afternoon at around 12:00. Then afterwards that of the Small teams.

Team Jumping Large (full results)
Germany (M. Grefenstein – Sea, M. Sprinz – Style, T. Wüst – Ceed, A. Lenz – Vis)
Great Britain (D. Munnings – Legacy, M. Reid – Shape, N. Cuddy – Lemon, C. Kerton – Cop)
Spain (I. Cubedo Alcazar – Dash, A. Fernandez – Bliss, T. Ayuso – Zlatan, J. Guillem – City)

In the Intermediate teams, Switzerland was comfortably in the lead after the first round. Similar to the previous year. Now they wanted to finally seal the deal. But it was only a wish in the end. All team members delivered four confident runs. Despite that, only Martin Brunner and Fiona remained error-free. Claudia Schwab and Sia made two mistakes, Jessica Thomas and Hywee had an unfortunate disqualification and Petra Häusermann a unlucky refusal. That meant that the podium place was gone.

They were inherited by the Czechs, who started the decision run second to last. But they were not error-free either. But it was enough for the title. Second place went to the Spaniards, who showed an impressive comeback. From 7th place in the first round to 2nd place in the final ranking. Even though two runs included somewhat controversial decisions as to whether it should have been a refusal or not, a large majority of on-site spectators at least doubted the correctness of these decisions. As impressive as this was, the Americans won the run. And this was also a historic affair and actually the planned title of this news. It is about team member Bob Daigle. At 73 years old, he is one of the oldest runners to ever compete in a world championship. And how he did it. He and Blew Bayou achieved the third fastest time of the day. Third place went to the Italians, who had already held this place after the jumping.

Team Intermediate (full results)
Czech Republic (L. Ruzickova – Brilley, S. Simandlova – Dakota, J. Fiala – KnedleeCzech, D. Mixova)
Spain (A. Bajo – Dive, I. J. Cubedo – Selene, A. Sequeiros – Buba, R. Jesus Martinez – Fiby)
Italy (S. Martelli – Petra, I. Sipalova – Zozo, E. Collini – Bagheera, D. Giovannelli – Easy-Peasy)

The real highlight of the day was the Medium Team decision. That was already clear from the start. Six teams were clean after the Jumping run and only with a small time difference between them. And one of these teams is the famous two-woman team with Aneta Obrusníková and Lenka Fuksova. And then there was Germany. The Medium Team in particular has always been a sure-fire medal winner in the past. The British were also among the favourites, but struggled in the Jumping on Wednesday. Despite three clean runs, they only finished fifth overall. Behind the Finns, who were still trembling for the bronze medal until shortly before the end. Maria Sori had the second-best time. Probably only a small consolation for her after missing the medal by one place.

Third place goes to the French, who once again put in a solid performance and probably got the most out of it. Second place goes to Germany, who thus win their first medal at this World Championship. The gap from the Jumping was simply too big to catch up today. The Czech team was too strong. Or rather Aneta Obrusníková. Because today she was the one who conjured up three clean and fast runs to the finish. And conjuring is a good word when you look at the way she did it. In any case, she is making Agility history with this gold medal. And it is questionable whether we will ever see that again. The Czech gave herself her own birthday present, which was a day early. Lenka Fuksova and Hippie, probably one of the fastest Medium teams currently, scored two fault points.

There was another oddity in the Team Agility ranking. Germany and the Czech Republic shared first place with exactly the same time. The British came third.

Team Medium (full results)
Czech Republic (L. Fuksova – Hippie, A. Obrusníková – Chilli, Ollie, Arrya)
Germany (A. Lenz – Rosalie, S. Boogk – Beam, K. Beitl-Kabai – Hydro, E. Müller-Schnick)
France (P. Ador – Maui, R. Castelain – Lips, M. Broudin – Moutik, J. Flouret – Kira)