German assistant team trainer Jonny Hilberath has been appointed the interim senior team coach due to the sudden and tragic passing of German team trainer Holger Schmezer at the 2012 World Cup Finals in 's Hertogenbosch.
Hilberath was the "Discipline Trainer" coaching the German A and B-team riders as well as team candidates and will now the be interim "chief trainer." The 56-year old, who runs a professional dressage stable in Abbendorf, received the support of all riders for his new job.
The definite decision on the German team trainer will be made after the 2012 Olympic Games as Schmezer had announced a month ago he would resign after that.
There are quite a few options for the team trainer position, according to Count Breido zu Rantzau, president of the German Equestrian Federation. "We won't fall into a black hole. We have a well equiped team and there are many possibilities," zu Rantzau told the German publication Focus.
Photo © Astrid Appels
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