14-year-old Jone Illi competed with his horse Eolita L. No Finn has been able to win the European show jumping gold in any Junior age group for more than 30 years.
Karijokelainen John Illi won the European show jumping juniors competition held in Oliva, Spain. 14-year-old Illi competed in the race with her horse Eolita L.
The junior show jumping competition consisted of five rounds, of which two final rounds were ridden on Saturday. In the first race, Illi dropped an obstacle and got 3.03 fault points, but the duo completed all other courses cleanly.
The first part of the final race went very well for both teams, and the Finnish rider came out on top with his performance. For the second round, Illi started in the lead of the overall competition and kept his top position by riding a faultless track. The duo got a combined time of 64.89 seconds.
In an exciting competition, Illi was able to keep his nerves under control.
“I am still completely speechless and I have not been able to internalize the situation at all. I didn’t know how to expect gold”, commented Illi after the race in the announcement of the Riders’ Association.
“When we get back home, me and the horse are going to have a proper vacation, and the gold medal will definitely be celebrated somehow,” beamed the recent junior European champion.
Illi’s mastery is of rare quality. No Finn has been able to win the Junior EC gold in show jumping in any age group for over 30 years.
The previous EC gold medalist was an Olympic field rider almost ten years ago Elmo Jankarin Junior European Championship from 2013.