AWC 2018: Old and new champions, luck and dramas

Once again, the whole agility world looked to Kristianstad today. There, the individual decisions were on the program. Dramas are there predicted as each year. And so much in advance, there were plenty of it today. Undeterred, Nicola Giraudi with Eira, Martina Magnoli Klimesova with Kiki and Natasha Gjerulff with Moviestar ran to the respective title in their categories.

The first decision was already in the course of the morning in the small tournament. In this, host Sweden hoped for a medal. After the race of Sandra Sjöberg and Sheltie Milla the first medal for Sweden was actually still within reach, but on this point there should still follow eight teams. However, the second Swedish team Jocke Tangfelt and Bella did not finish their run. Denisa Lajmarova from the Czech Republic was the first to beat the time from Sandra Sjöberg. But even their leadership lasted only a short time. When Adriano Pacifico and Sandi Okanovic also did not make their runs without mistakes, the big shake started in Sweden. But Pavol Vakonic and Tobias Wüst and the later winner Natasha Gjerulff ended all their dreams. Alberto Marmo and Dhitta, who took second place in jumping, could not start after a paw injury. A particularly sad moment for the Italian. Thanks to the best time in the agility race, Tobias Wüst was in the end ahead of Pavol Vakonic.

Small Individual (Full results)
 Natasha Gjerulff with Moviestar
 Tobias Wüst with Doerte
  Pavol Vakonic with Meryl

Most peoples actually had Ina Himle or Silas Boogk on the bill after the jumping yesterday. But at the end neither of them was surprisingly on the podium. Silas Boogk started as the first of the top two in the final. However, a pole fell relatively early for the German. The dream was gone at this point. And Ina Himle? The young Norwegian had a lot of bad luck, but proved a lot of fighting spirit. She stumbled at the seesaw, but was lucky that her Sheltie Wii completed the seesaw normally. Ina Himle recovered after the fall, but only for a few more obstacles. Then the refusal was inevitable. Also the third placed Swede after the Jumping, Anne Karlsson retired with a mistake from the race. The big profiteer of all the mistakes from the top three was the Czech Martina Magnoli Klimesova with the 10.5-year-old Mudi bitch Kiki. Second place goes to American Jennifer Crank and Swift. Behind Magdalena Domanska with Mora from Poland.

Medium Individual (Full results)
 Martina Magnoli Klimesova with Kiki
 Jennifer Crank with Swift
  Magdalena Domanska with Mora

Then the so-called king class was on the program. Practically 45 teams had still real chances for a medal. But in the end, the decision was made between the top 10. Although strong times have already been set by other runners before, such as the Russian Stanislav Kurochkin, Lisa Frick, the Swiss Christian Fryand or Svetlana Kreslina. But in the decision these four names did not matter anymore. Also the European Open winner Max Sprinz could not fulfill the expectations of Germany. An incredible run was made by the Swiss Silvan Zumthurm with Penny. A time that lasted for a long time. Among others, like last year’s winner Tereza Kralova. Despite a flawless run the two were just not fast enough today and yesterday. Only Dave Munnings with Fame outbid the total time. Afte Anne Lenz made her run with the best time until then, the big trembling started in the Swiss camp. With Jessica Patterson and Nicola Giraudi  were still two teams at the start. The Canadian, however, said goodbye after a mistake from the title race. And then the duel, which in the end was not really a duel due to the big time difference, between Anne Lenz and Nicola Giraudi started. The Italian ran his course confidently, even with stopped contacts on the dogwalk. His overall lead in the end was more than a second ahead. We pull the hat from this achievement.

Large Individual (Full results)
  Nicola Giraudi with Eira
  Anne Lenz with Itzi Bitzi
  Dave Munnings with Fame