William Fox-Pitt (1st in the competition for 6-year-old horses)
"It is a dream to win here! When I took part in the competition for the first time I fell in the steeplechase phase. I have come here many times but I have never managed to finish better than in 5th place! Winning here is important as the World Championships are widely renowned. Many crack horses have competed at the Lion World Championships. Now we will have to think about the next steps for Oslo. There is a huge difference between the competitions for 6 and 7-year-old horses. It is essential to choose the right programme to be followed next season… Next year the same riders will be present with their horses (Pippa and Redesigned and Kai and Charlie Weld, editor’s note) and we will see which one of us has best prepared his horse! (He laughs.) In fact, for me the most satisfying thing is to have beaten Pippa in the dressage test!” (Normally Pippa has better results than William for dressage, editor’s note).
Malin Larsson (1st in the competition for 6-year-old horses)
"It is really an incredible feeling to win here, to do the winning lap with William! I can still hardly believe it! As soon as I came out of the arena, I called my parents in Sweden and even when I told them the results, I still did not really believe it! But this victory will not change my way of life. I was a professional rider for three years, but that lifestyle did not suit me. I like being an amateur. I need to work, to see "normal" people who do not talk about horses all the time and at the same time to experience extraordinary moments which was the case today! This is how I have managed to preserve a balanced lifestyle!"
Pippa Funnell (2nd in the competition for 6-year-old horses and 3rd in the competition for 7-year-old horses)
"I am a bit annoyed to have been beaten by William by such a small difference!" (She laughs!) More seriously, I am very pleased with my two horses. Everything went off as I hoped. People forget all the work that is involved beforehand to get this far. When they see our horses at the Olympic Games, they do not imagine the time that we have needed to bring them to this level of performance! But that is what it is all about: breeding, training our horses and making them progress to the highest level of competition possible…This is the beauty of our sport!"