Historic Double World Championship Gold for Charlotte Fry at Aachen 2026

- Text © Eurodressage (this article expresses Eurodressage's' eye-witness account and opinion about the competition)  
-- Photos © Astrid Appels/Eurodressage - No reproduction allowed - NO SCREENSHOTS FOR SOCIAL MEDIA

British Olympian Charlotte Fry claimed a historic double gold medal as the first rider to ever do so at two FEI World Championships. By winning freestyle gold at the 2026 World Championships in Aachen on a sensational Saturday night 15 August 2026.

In a stadium packed with 40,000 people resembling a sold-out rock concert or premier soccer match did Fry and her black stallion Glamourdale fly to victory in a fault-free Kur to Music. She again had Danish Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour on her heels for silver, while home-side hero and "Queen of the Kur" Isabell Werth worked herself again on the podium for bronze.

Fry Writes History

Lottie Fry is the first dressage rider ever to hold two World Champion titles back to back (2022 - 2026) with four individual gold medals won. Not even Christine Stuckelberger (Granat), Reiner Klimke (Ahlerich), Nicole Uphoff (Rembrandt), nor Anky van Grunsven (Bonfire/Salinero) were able to achieve that feat on one horse at two consecutive Championships.

Only Isabell Werth and Gigolo sort of mirrored that feat but under a different competition format. She claimed Special gold at the 1994 World Equestrian Games in The Hague and overall individual gold at the 1998 WEG in Rome. However the formats were different at those WEGs with The Hague making the riders choose whether they want to compete in the Special or Kur, while in Rome one overall individual champion was calculated over three rounds.

A Night to Remember

After an exhilirating Grand Prix Special on Friday afternoon, when Lottie Fry swooped in to claim the gold ahead of favourites Cathrine Dufour and Justin Verboomen, Saturday had the Aachen show grounds buzzing. The stadium and grounds were packed with people who came to watch the highlight of eventing, the cross country, during the day, while Vaulting continued in the "old" dressage stadium which has been covered with a temporary, rather ugly, roof for the occasion. Para dressage would be held next in that make shift arena. 

The trade fair was overflowing with people and the shops must have sold like crazy. Economic crisis? Tension in the strait of Hormuz? No sense of that in Lala horse land! Excitement was building towards the evening and everyone could feel a night to remember was in store.  The FEI and Aachen show organizer played a clever strategy to invite IOC president Kristy Coventry into the VVV-VIP box in the Mercedes-Benz seating area, where she could witness the popularity of dressage sport - or at least the Kur to Music - first hand. With equestrian sport as one of the most expensive disciplines to host at the Games, its continued position in the Olympic realm is fragile and up for re-assessment with each cycle. Horse sport seems secure until Brisbane 2032 but nothing is certain, except death and taxes. 

Setting the Tone

The first combination to enter the arena at 19h00 for the Kur to Music finale was Finnish Olympian Henri Ruoste on Victoria Schönhofen's 14-year old Danish mare Tiffany's Diamond (by Temptation x His Highness). The gorgeous black mare was not entirely at ease in the charged stadium and while she performed to the rather bombastic music of Top Gun, which befitted Henri's previous horse Kontestro DB much better, so did her job and set the tone for the rest to follow. 

The judges panel, including Maria Colliander (FIN), Clive Halsall (GBR), Maribel Alonso de Quinzaños (MEX), Ulrike Nivelle (GER), Alice Schwab (AUT), Michael Osinski (USA), and Kurt Christensen (DEN) rewarded the ride with a 75.468% score and 17th place in the end.

Belgian Larissa Pauluis and her 16-year old KWPN gelding Flambeau (by Ampere x Zeoliet) were up next and their fitting music (Anne Lennox' Sweet Dreams, U2's In the Name of Love (and Sunday Bloody Sunday, not ideal song choice for horse sport I would say)) resonated with the crowds. They posted 76,432% for 14th place. After two strenuous days of competition and a very busy winter and spring show season down his belt, Flambeau looked a bit at the end of this energy level that Saturday night. 

Dinja van Liere got inspired by her holiday getaways with some of her fellow dressage riders and rode to new music featuring poppy Ibiza-style party tracks (Whitney Houstin, Ellie Golding, Pink, Kygo).  Riding the youngest horse in the field, 9-year old Mauro (by Zonik x Negro), she had a small hesitation in one of the piaffes and  rode a big double pirouette right. Although she finished ahead of her music, Van Liere showed that the willing Mauro is a definitely one to watch for the future of Dutch dressage sport. They were 12th with 79,000%

Australian Simone Pearce exceeded her own expectations and never thought she would make it to the freestyle. She had her music team drum up a kur overnight and this was noticeable. The rather simple floorplan and lack of "storyline" in the music were obvious, as the Indian sounding, drum dominated was more atmospheric than supportive. Nevertheless she and her 10-year old CDE bred Will Marq (by Rio Marq x Lanciano) impressed with canter extensions and lovely piaffe-passage work. They finished on 75.646% and 16th place. 

German Olympian Frederic Wandres and Elena Knyaginicheva's 16-year old Oldenburg gelding Bluetooth (by Frederic Wandres) got their spot in the freestyle and GP Special bronze medal winner Katharina Hemmer withdrew Denoix PCH to spare the gelding from a third test (citing veterinary reasons) and the super-charged environment which the horse has difficulties coping with as seen last year in Crozet. Wandres' freestyle is all about love with its love-themed songs. His experienced bay gelding looked a little tired in the freestyle and made mistakes in the tempi changes to finish on 76,246% and a 15th place.

Norwegian Isabel Freese debuted brand new music and brought some funk to the floor. Aboard Paul Schockemöhle and Lone Boegh Henriksen's 14-year old Oldenburg stallion Total Hope (by Totilas x Don Schufro) she rode to Snoop Dog and Dr. Dre tracks and delivered a real beat to enjoy. Her music was reminiscent of the Superbowl half-time show a couple of years ago. They got 78,021% for 13th place. 

It was interesting to note how the final score decided by "spectator judging" was consistently one to two percent lower than the marks of the distinguished judging panel. It felt like the spectators were more accurate than the generous judges who were in the mood for a spectacle.

The Middle Section

A short 14-minute break followed before the middle section of riders presented their freestyle and hard choices had to be made: find relief by running to the toilet to pee or stay in the photographers' pocket, stretching one's blather, and not lose one's photography spot. I chose the latter.  

The sun started to slowly set and the floodlights began taking over as source of light in the stadium. With the crowds packed all around, the music blaring through the speakers and the tension rising, Aachen freestyle night felt more like a rock concert or a soccer match than a serious dressage competition. Many horses were visibly struggling to stay tension free and cope with the environment, but it was all "Panem et Circenses" that night. Not a single horse has ever competed in such an atmosphere in their career before so it was new to them all.

Polish Sandra Sysojeva and her 10-year old Oldenburg mare Maxima Bella (by Millennium x Christ) were the first to go after the break. The pair has already been competing three full seasons at international Grand Prix level and brought their Paris Olympic freestyle of 2024 with them. The French chanson themed kur is lovely for the elegant but chunky black mare and the duo was the first to crack the 80% marker with an 80,175% score (9th place) which had the crowds roaring.

Denmark's Nadja Aaboe Sloth was next. The former prison guard turned full-time rider has produced the 13-year old Danish bred Favour Gersdorf (by Foundation x Leandro) up the levels herself with the help of trainers Leif Sorensen, Rune Willum and Daniel Bachmann. Riding to what sounded to me like Hawaiian- Tiki bar inspired music the pair excelled with lovely piaffe work, but in passage the hindlegs were too far out. Some tension came all the way at the end in the piaffe pirouette. They were 11th with 79,386%.

German Raphael Netz and Sonja Krall's 15-year old KWPN gelding Great Escape Camelot (by Johnson x Turbo Magic) rode during the most magical time of the evening: the setting sun. After another hot day in Aachen, the sky was tequila sunrise coloured with yellows, reds, and purple. A flock of birds flew by and just made the whole moment magical. Riding to How to Train a Dragon (copy-catting Charlotte Dujardin/Valegro) the pair finished on 80,946% and an 8th place. 

The first cracker of a ride followed: British World Cup winner Becky Moody on her home-bred 12-year old KWPN gelding Jagerbomb (by Dante Weltino x Jazz). Riding to a Beatles medley and a highly technical floorplan, Moody began strong with a pirouette, tempi changes, pirouette and more tempi on the half circle. The extended walk had two hooves overtrack, but the rhythm could have been better and he looked a little stuck in the rhythm in the half pass right. The line of two tempi's going into ones had the crowds clapping. The extended canter right was a highlight, just like the very steady head-neck position of the horse and good contact with the mouth. They scored 87,479% and topped the leaderboard for quite a while to finish fifth in the end.

Swedish Maria von Essen and her own 14-year old KWPN gelding Invoice (by Jazz x Ferro) continue to ride on music borrowed from Cathrine Dufour: the Les Miserable freestyle custom-made for Bohemian. I can't get used to seeing another horse perform to it as it doesn't match as well. Von Essen rode Invoice with a very careful contact and tried to never pressure her horse in the different movements, but a mistake in the two's crept in and by the end of the right the hypersensitive black gelding could not really keep the lid on the cooker in the final piaffe fan. The end halt was not immobile. The judges left their boxes to converge as Von Essen walked out of the arena. She had executed a 2.5 pirouette, which is not allowed, and her total score dropped to 72,168% and 18th place. 

Denmark's Daniel Bachmann Andersen and Sofia Ek's 12-year old Oldenburg gelding Flash Gordon (by Fiderbach x Don Romantic) were next to jump into the witches' cauldron. The tall chestnut gelding with flaxen mane performed to music with lots of violins, but it left me untouched. I couldn't help but wonder why a horse owned by the owner of Spotify, the biggest online music streaming service in the world, does not have a banger of a freestyle. Hopefully something for the future. Flash Gordon has much talent for piaffe and passage but Bachmann was piloting the inexperienced Grand Prix horse a lot and the hand aids were not subtle. The two tempi changes were beautiful, there was a mistake in the ones. The trot half pass right needed to be more elastic and flowing. The trot extensions were very nice. They ended up 10th with 80,107%.

Piece de Resistance

The final block of six riders was the "piece de resistance" and what the entire week literally boiled down to. After another 14-minute break everyone shifted their bums to the edge of their seat as the medal deciding rides were to come. 

Dutch Marieke van der Putten entered the arena first on Saskia and Jacques Lemmens' 12-year old Oldenburg mare Zantana (by Zonik x Sir Donnerhall). The super talented dark bay mare is in her second year at Grand Prix level and has not always been resilient to tension so there was a big question mark if Zantana were to cope with the mayhem in the Aachen stadium. Zantana, however, delivered and remarkably stayed  cool as a cucumber. Riding to a Joost Peeters' composed Anky style orchestral 1990s music, Van der Putten began with piaffes, a half pass to the right followed by a big extended trot. The extended walk was rather tense though with no real stretch forward but there was plenty of overstep. One double pirouette left looked more like 1.75 pirouette. The one tempi changes were straight and in the final piaffe pirouette at X the mare kept the rhythm despite the clapping from the crowd. They scored 82,693% for a 6th place. 

Reigning European Champions Justin Verboomen and his 10-year old Hanoverian stallion Zonik Plus (by Zonik x Hohenstein) entered next. After a second place in the Grand Prix and a fifth in the Special, the duo were already ear-marked as not in "top form" and gold would be a hard-fought battle. In the freestyle, Zonik Plus showed his best form of the week and the etherial music of their freestyle sounded like a bell in the big stadium; the pair took the crowds to church for a joint experience of catharsis. Verboomen's stallion is not the most athletic mover of the top horses, but it's the lightness and effortless with which they perform the Grand Prix movements that set them apart. They were back in unison and executed good piaffe-passage at the start, a lovely trot half pass right and just flowed from movement to movement. The ones were tense though but fault-free. Only the difficult canter pirouette - piaffe pirouette transition had a bobble. When a score of 88.439% came on the board, everyone knew it wouldn't be enough for a medal except if the others would make big mistakes. In the end the pair was fourth and returned to Brussels with no medals at all, but a team ticket for Belgium for the 2028 L.A. Olympics. 

Up next were Grand Prix Special gold medal winners Charlotte Fry and Gert-Jan van Olst's 15-year old KWPN stallion Glamourdale (by Lord Leatherdale x Negro). Although they are the 2022 World Champions, in 2025 Fry surprisingly ended off the podium at the Europeans in Crozet. The pair retrieved an upward trend at the beginning of spring show season with three CDI starts before the stallion got a break from showing to focus on breeding; They returned to Aachen on peak form. In Crozet they debuted their Joost Peeters' "Flying" freestyle, a medley of songs all based on the word "fly", which truly found purpose in the vast space of the Aachen stadium. Their halt at entry was not 100% immobile as the horse went into trot on his own volition, but then a series of stunning movements followed: good passage work, piaffes which were above par for the stallion, a very rhythmical half pass? One piaffe turn/pirouette was that forward it didn't fulfil the criteria of a pirouette. The collected walk was a little tense, the extended had plenty of overtrack but the stallion curled the neck downwards instead of stretching with the nose forward. Glamourdale's canter work is his forté and it was all huge, massive, sweeping, flying, supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. Big changes, big pirouettes (some too big), a seemingly shorter flying change behind here and there, but no mistakes made. The crowd was in a frenzy when Lottie rode the two's followed by ones on the same line.The downward transition from canter to passage didn't really happen and went via trot/walk. There were tiny imperfections here and there, but it's was all big and bold and powerful. Who cares in the end....Fry proved to be the Greatest Showman of the night and as soon as she saluted everyone knew that she would get the gold. The score of 91,907% cemented that fact.

Only one pair was virtually able to keep Fry from gold and that was Danish Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour on the 17-year old Hanoverian mare Mount St. John Freestyle (by Fidermark x Donnerhall) which the rider co-owns with Emma Blundell and the Zinglersen family. But something in my gut told me that even if she were fault-free, Aachen was Fry's turf and Dufour would still get silver. Dufour also rode to new music, designed by Joost Peeters, who seems the go-to man now that Cees Slings and Michael Erdmann have died. Once again Peeters seemed to have typed one keyword into Spotify ("together") and strung those similar themed songs together: Together Forever (Rick Astley), Together (Kylie Minogue), All Together Now (Beatles) and it ended with "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" (Starship).  Let's try to be a bit more literal next time ;) Dufour entered the stadium in full focus and put her finger to her lips asking for the crowds to stay silent, which they couldn't when the announcer called her name. The pair began with a piaffe turn, followed by a half pass (was it passage or trot, unsure), a correct trot extension with enough overtrack. Then more half passes in trot and passage. A very good transition in extended walk followed with super relaxation, correctly executed. The collected walk was good. A piaffe pirouette went into a canter pirouette. In a canter half pass the mare started to lean a little bit on the forehand and did I spot a tiny loss of rhythm in another trot extension. In the final piaffe-passage part Cathrine had a big smile on her face, a trademark that Isabell Werth also does to steal those last few points from the judges and sweep the crowds into cheers. The end halt was not immobile. Dufour delivered the fault-free test she coveted but it was silver again with a fraction of a point difference from Fry: 91,236%. Two of the seven judges had her first (Christensen, Schwab), four second and one third.

British Carl Hester and Fiona Bigwood's 16-year old KWPN gelding Fame (by Bordeaux x Rhodium) were the penultimate riders to go and Carl immediately had me at hello. His new music was all about David Bowie's greatest hits and who can beat that master of music. Let's Dance, Fame, Space Oddity. Werth also has a Bowie freestyle, which we never get to hear anymore (pity), but Hester's was fortunately quite different and so much fun. Unfortunately his horse Fame did not have fun and couldn't "keep calm and carry on". He spooked several times and Hester gave a masterclass at riding a tense horse and still make it look good. Straight tempi changes, a superb piaffe turn, but as the test progressed it looked like the rider was sitting on a bomb about to detonate. With another rider this would have been ugly, Carl stayed unperturbed. The score of 82,304% seemed a little generous considering; it looked more in appreciation of the riding than the test shown.

And of course Isabell Werth draw once again last to go. It's a  miracle! I would love to see a statistical analysis of how often Isabell gets to go in last. The Queen of the Kur was the cherry on the cake of a fabulous freestyle night in Aachen. Werth rode Bolette Wandt and Madeleine Winter-Schulze's 12-year old Danish warmblood Wendy (by Sezuan x Soprano) and has fantastic music for the mare: Key songs are Stumblin' In, Go Your Own Way ,"  and  "Mandy " by Barry Manilow. The score works like a clock and is probably the best composition of the entire evening, greetings from the late Michael Erdmann. Isabell rode in full concentration mode with the knife between her teeth. The halt at entry was not immobile, but then a super piaffe-passage section followed. The first trot extension was hurried with not enough overtrack. The extended walk had very good marching. There was a slight tilt in the canter half pass, the extended canter was huge and full of power. Then mistakes in the two tempi changes came and the golden gateway closed. The ones worked out but they were ridden with the rider swinging in the saddle.  The left canter pirouette could improve in suppleness and bending. Despite the big bobble in the two's, Werth had a fabulous time in the saddle and pulled the "Rafael Soto gimmick" out of her pocket: looking into the audience with a big smile on her face, making the home crowd go delirious. Isabell got so enthusiastic she released the rein and seemingly wanted to signal the crowd, but touched her nose instead and then concluded her ride with a one-handed passage. The end halt was not immobile.  Werth was on the podium for bronze with 88,650%, a fraction ahead of Verboomen.   She ranked between second (Colliander) and fifth place (Halsall, Schwab).

As always I would love to report on individual scores, for instance, for those immobile halts many executed, or broken changes, or walks and extended trots, but the individual marks are blocked by the FEI. Longines Timing nor the FEI website offers access to the breakdown of the freestyle scores on their official website...

The Euphoria

The whole stadium erupted into so much cheering at the end of the class that many got goosebumps and were overwhelmed by emotions from the intensity of the night. This reporter also needed some time to recover from the impressions as so many thoughts raced through my head at the end of the night, at the end of a two-week coverage marathon of two back-to-back World Championships (Verden and Aachen) with very little sleep.  Was the ranking correct? From a classical riding perspective it was probably Dufour who should have won gold, Verboomen second, Moody or Fry third, followed by Werth?

The freestyle is more than dressage, it's entertainment and Aachen 2026 delivered on all fronts. It truly was a celebration of horse sport and top level competition. However for many horses the atmosphere in the stadium was too much. One can argue that dressage horses should be the best trained of all disciplines, but in the kur most were overwhelmed. Furthermore at these World Championships not a single prize giving ceremony was done on horse back. Bye bye iconic lap of honour photos ! Nobody will remember the ones in the carriage. Remarkably the eventers had their team and individual medal ceremony on horse back, so for them it was possible! No need to bubble wrap those happy athletes who have a much better composure than dressage horses.  

One could question if it is even possible to train for an atmosphere like in Aachen. No other show venue in the world has the size and filling capacity as the hallowed grounds of Aachen; 240,000 visitors were counted during the first week of the World Championships for dressage, eventing and vaulting. Whispers are going round that the next World Championships in 2030 will be in Ocala, Florida. You heard it first on Eurodressage....

Riding for the Big Bucks?

Looking into the FEI database at the prize money won by the gold medalist, Fry banked 41,500 euro for her Kur win, 31,800 euro for the Special, and 5,900 euro in the Grand Prix. Great Britain won a 17,000 euro team bonus. Without the team bonus that's a total of 79,200 euro.

In comparison, at the 2025 European Championships Justin Verboomen got 2000 euro in the Grand Prix, 10,000 euro in the Special, and 15,000 euro in the freestyle. That's a total of 27,000 euro. At the 2023 Europeans in Riesenbeck, Jessica von Bredow-Werndl earned 7,500 euro in the Grand Prix (+Germany got 10,000 euro as a team), 16,000 euro in the Special, and 35,000 euro in the freestyle. That's a total of 58,500 euro without the team bonus. At the 2022 World Championships in Herning, Fry won 7,000 euro in the Grand Prix (+ 16,500 euro for Team Great Britain), 30,800 euro in the Special, and 40,500 euro in the Kur. That's a total of 78,300 euro. Does anyone else feel sorry for Justin? 

From the Press Room

At the press conference following the medal ceremony, the top-three place-getters smiled from ear to ear. 

Fry said, “This was the most amazing feeling in the world,” said Fry. “We’ve never done a test like this. As soon as he goes in, he relaxes. Neither of us was sweating, we just enjoyed it. It couldn’t have been any better and I couldn’t be happier. In Herning in 2022, it felt as if Glammie still had to prove himself to the world. This year we put everything into this week. It has been a huge commitment from our whole team, so for this to happen is a dream come true.”

Dufour had wiped the look of disappointment off her face after the Special and was now thrilled. “Yesterday, I felt like I had lost gold,” the Danish athlete said. “Today, I feel like I have won Silver. I am overjoyed. Freestyle felt fantastic. This was the ride of a lifetime. To ride into this atmosphere, in this arena, was something I have never felt before. It was only the second time we had ridden this Freestyle, but it felt as though we had never done anything else.”

Werth's risk taking paid off.  “To go last here and hear all those scores that had already been posted... The only thing I could do was take every risk,” she said. “It was amazing today. Wendy gave me everything. Our one-time changes worked. I’m very happy. With the whole crowd clapping on the final centre line, and being able to ride Wendy with just one finger on the rein in the piaffe and passage.”

The riders concluded their night with midnight champagne and celebrations in the rider's bar next to the press centre. Now all heads will turn towards Vejle/Randbøl, Denmark, where next year's season highlight competition will be held: the 2027 European Championships where three more nations from Group A and B can secure Olympic team slots. Pre-order your tickets now because unlike in Aachen there will only be seating for 3,300 people instead of 40,000. 

-- Photos © Astrid Appels/Eurodressage - No reproduction allowed - NO SCREENSHOTS!

Related Link
Eurodressage Coverage of the 2026 World Championships Dressage
Scores: 2026 World Championships Dressage