Balve Optimum
The Longines Balve Optimum is an international CSI / CDI equestrian tournament that usually takes place in June on the tournament grounds at Schloss Wocklum in Balver Orlebachtal.
Riders from all over the world take part in this tournament. Until now, for example, in the discipline of jumping well-known athletes such as Ludger Beerbaum , Hugo Simon , Rodrigo Pessoa and Marco Kutscher and in the discipline of dressage , among others Nicole Uphoff and Isabell Werth at the start.
The tournament is hosted and organized with a budget of EUR 650,000 by the tournament community Balve GmbH and the equestrian club Balve.
history
The riding club Balve e. V. was founded on February 23, 1925 as the riding and driving club Balve and the surrounding area with Max Graf Landsberg as 1st chairman. The first tournament took place on Allhoffs Wiese in 1947 with special permission from the occupying forces . A year later, on the day of the currency reform , it was carried out for the first time at today's venue in Balve-Wocklum. In 1949 Dieter Graf Landsberg-Velen was elected chairman.
On the occasion of the club's 25th anniversary, the first grandstands with 3,000 seats were built in 1950 and the tournament area was expanded. In the two years that followed, the main square was expanded. A judges' tower with a registration office was built. Hans Günter Winkler took part in the Balver tournament for the first time in 1951. In the following years it was further expanded and rebuilt.
1959 filmed the German television on site. In 1972, the Olympic preparatory competitions took place in Wocklum for the first time, in 1976 with foreign participation. In 1984, Arnim Basche commented for ZDF on the German championship of show jumping and dressage riders taking place for the first time in Wocklum, which was connected with the sighting of riders for the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
German championships
From 1992 the German championships of an Olympic year were always held in Balve, including in 2008. In return, the international tournament in Balve did not take place during these years. After the trend in the years up to 2007 that the German top riders took part in other international tournaments instead of the German championships, a new concept was considered. From 2008 the German championships for show jumping and dressage riders were awarded to Balve for several years; in return, the tournament organizer organized an international jumping tournament (CSI 3 *) as a framework tournament at the German championships from 2009.
In 2010 the date of the planned German championships in Balve collided with the date of the soccer world championship 2010 , so that no television broadcasts could have been guaranteed. For this reason it was planned to bring the German championships forward by a week. In this case, however, the German championships for dressage riders would not have been held in Balve, but at the Lingen Dressage Festival , which then took place in parallel . However, the German Equestrian Association decided at the end of 2009 that instead of Balve, the winners' tournament in Münster (Westphalia), which had a better schedule, should host the German championships for dressage and show jumping, in return a stage for the riders took place at the Balve Optimum 2010 Tour takes place.
The German championships have been held in Balve every year since 2011.
Balve Optimum
Since 1997 the tournaments have been called "Balve Optimum". In 2006, the year of the soccer World Cup in Germany , the month of August was avoided.
The show jumping Grand Prix, which takes place every Sunday in years without a German championship in Balve, is also known as the Optimum Prize. It is an international jumping competition , which, depending on the invitation, is held as a jumping competition with jump-off, winning round or two rounds. Since 2009 the Grand Prix has been held in years with German championships in Balve on Saturday.
The final test in dressage is the Grand Prix Freestyle, which is held on the Sunday before the Show Jumping Grand Prix.
For the first time in 2013 a prize for special extra-sporting achievements, the "Optimum Award", was given to Ulrich Bettermann .
The winners since 2005
| year | Announcement of the tournament | Winner of the championship of Balve | Winner in the Grand Prix Freestyle |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | CSI 3 *, CDI 3 * |
 Heinrich-Hermann Engemann Aboyeur W |
Heike Kemmer Bonaparte |
| 2006 | CSI 3 * |
Christian Ahlmann Cöster |
no dressage tests held |
| 2007 | CSI 3 *, CDI 4 * |
Markus Renzel Conally |
Nadine Capellmann Elvis VA |
| 2008 | National show jumping tournament up to class S *** (framework tournament of the German championships) |
Otto Becker Dobel's Cordina |
Dressage tests were conducted as part of the German Championships held |
| 2009 | CSI 3 * (framework tournament of the German championships) |
 Taizo Sugitani Avenzio |
Dressage tests took place as part of the German championships |
| 2010 | CSI 4 * (with special test Riders Tour ) |
 Albert Zoer Uruguay |
no dressage tests held |
| 2011 | CSI 2 * (framework tournament of the German championships) |
Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum Bella Donna |
Dressage tests took place as part of the German championships |
| 2012 | CSI 2 * (framework tournament of the German championships) |
Philipp Weishaupt souvenir |
Dressage tests took place as part of the German championships |
| 2013 | CSI 2 * (framework tournament of the German championships) |
Daniel Deußer Domingo |
Dressage tests took place as part of the German championships |
| 2014 | CSI 2 * (framework tournament of the German championships) |
Christian Ahlmann Aragon |
Dressage tests took place as part of the German championships |
| 2015 | CSI 2 * (framework tournament of the German championships) |
Michael Jung Sportsman S. |
Dressage tests took place as part of the German championships |
| 2016 | CSI 2 * (framework tournament of the German championships) |
Felix Hassmann Balzaci |
Dressage tests took place as part of the German championships |
| 2017 | CSI 2 * (framework tournament of the German championships) |
Felix Hassmann Balzaci |
Dressage tests took place as part of the German championships |
| 2018 | CSI 2 * (framework tournament of the German championships) |
Marcus Ehning Qooper Z |
Dressage tests took place as part of the German championships |
Remarks:
- ↑ until 2010 titled as the Grand Prix of Balve
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ 75th years Reiterverein Balve eV, Chronicle, The years at a glance: 1925 - 2000 (PDF)
- ↑ Message "German jumping and dressage championships separated in Balve and Lingen" from November 28, 2009
- ↑ DKB-Riders Tour - back in Balve
- ↑ The first Optimum Award goes to Ulrich Bettermann - committed sponsor , Richard Elmerhaus / derwesten.de, June 7, 2013
- ↑ until 2013 eventcontent.hippoonline.de , from 2014 reitturniere-live.de