Mangos for the mare, wine for the welmeister – and a declaration of love for the friend. "He is the most wonderful man in the world," the new world champion in show jumping gushed about her life’s journeys. In four weeks, simone blum wants to marry hans gunther goskowitz.
Goskowitz takes girlfriend’s name after wedding. "Now that’s not a bad name," the new world champion joked happily. After the world championships in the USA, blum is in the same league as the big names in equestrian sport. With german world champions hans gunter winkler, hartwig steenken, gerd wiltfang, norbert koof and franke sloothaak.
24 years after the last individual gold medal in show jumping by sloothaak, the rider from bavaria’s zolling won sovereignly in north carolina – as the first german female show jumper. And as the second woman after the canadian gail greenough.
"Man or woman – it doesn’t matter to me when I’m riding," said blum. But this does not apply to her horse. "Alice doesn’t like manners," the world champion reported. Her boyfriend is also not allowed to ride the horse. Alice is elective.
Even when eating. As a reward, the eleven-year-old mare was given "ten mangos, that’s what i promised her". Not hay or oats – mangos are alice’s food: "shucked and seedless". Blum obviously didn’t expect to win, because she confessed: "I’ll have to get them first."
In the course alice was focused, as well as the rider. "The last days i was not nervous", she reported. On the last day of the world championships "but a little bit," admitted blum, who has only been riding alice for four years. Her life’s danger had chosen the mare – with him and the other german riders, blum celebrated in the evening at a winery on the edge of the blue ridge mountains.
The next goal is the olympic games in two years in japan. Fear of alice being sold doesn’t have to worry her. "She will stay with us in any case," said blum. "I have the best sponsors in the world – my parents."
Her father jurgen blum rode in eventing at the 1996 olympics. She herself was bavarian pony champion in this discipline at the age of twelve. Shortly before graduating from high school, she had a serious fall and was hospitalized with a brain hemorrhage. After a break she specialized in jumping.
The first rough success came only a year ago. Blum won the title at the german championships in balve, sauerland – naturally with alice. Since then she has been riding at the highest level, competing in funf-sterne tournaments such as in stuttgart, where she won the masters in the fall. But blum uses her mare selectively and rarely. They missed out on a number of opportunities at high-profile events, focused solely on the world cup this season and were rewarded for it.
"She represents the new generation," said dennis peiler, head of sport at the german equestrian federation (fn). In view of the individual gold and team bronze medals won by three newcomers to the world championships, peiler commented: "they have now reached the top, which makes us as an association very happy. It takes time for couples to reach the top."
Blum, unlike others, had clear priorities. "She made it quite clear that the world championship was her priority and not the global tour or any other series."This can be understood as a little side blow to other riders.