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Sports Performance of the Year: European Championship gold for the jumping team

Expectations were high, and the jumping team delivered in full. At the European Jumping Championship in A Coruña, the Belgian riders claimed the European title.
After gold in 2019 and bronze in 2021, they were back on top again. This time with authority and flair, finishing ahead of Olympic champions Great Britain and powerhouse Germany.

From the very start of the European Championship, three nations proved evenly matched. Olympic champion Great Britain won the opening round ahead of Germany and Belgium. The standings remained unchanged after the second round, with the top three already opening a clear gap to the rest of the field.
Great Britain went into the final as leaders on 3.96 penalties, followed by Germany on 4.19 and Belgium on 4.61. A marginal difference of less than one jumping fault.
In the decisive final, only the Belgian riders kept their composure and jumped clear. Nicola Philippaerts with Katanga vh Dingeshof, Thibeau Spits with Impres-K van ’t Kattenheye Z and Gilles Thomas with Ermitage Kalone left every pole up for the third day in a row. Great Britain and Germany, by contrast, did incur faults in the final round.
As a result, Belgium claimed European gold for the second time in history. Team Belgium finished on just 5.61 penalty points. Silver went to Great Britain with 7.96, bronze to Germany with 8.19.

The gold-medal team combined proven partnerships with exciting young talent, under the guidance of chef d’équipe Peter Weinberg, who, together with his riders and staff, delivered this outstanding achievement.
Abdel Said was part of the selection as reserve and also contributed to the overall strength of the team.

For 24-year-old Thibeau Spits and 27-year-old Gilles Thomas, it was their first European Championship at senior level.
For Pieter Devos, it marked his first European Championship with Casual DV Z and his third European medal overall. Devos previously won gold at the European Championship in Rotterdam in 2019 and bronze in Riesenbeck in 2021.
Nicola Philippaerts and Katanga vh Dingeshof competed in their third consecutive European Championship. After taking bronze in 2021, a gold medal has now been added to their collection.

A striking observation is that every rider on the gold-winning team previously completed the Talentenplan of Paardensport Vlaanderen, and each of them has also been named Talent of the Year in the past. It highlights the strength and continuity of the talent development.
In addition, Belgium claimed gold with relatively young horses, a promising sign for the years ahead.

“Sports Personality of the Year” Jos Ceulemans, so much more than the most passionate supporter

“From now on, I no longer celebrate birthdays,” Jos Ceulemans said when he blew out 80 candles earlier this year. Yet the lettuce grower and passionate breeder is still always up for a celebration, just as much as for an invitation to an official tribute.
That honour now comes his way, as Paardensport Vlaanderen awards none other than Jos Ceulemans its highest distinction, the title of “Sports Personality of the Year.”

It is hard to imagine anyone who does not know Jos Ceulemans. He is the most enthusiastic, loudest and most genuine supporter in the equestrian world, well beyond Belgium’s borders.
Directors love to put him in the spotlight, and commentators from all over the world regularly refer to Jos Ceulemans on television as unmatched, inimitable, pure and utterly authentic.

Yet Jos Ceulemans, known within the family as “vake Jos”, is far more than the most passionate supporter. He is just as driven as a breeder.
His Dwerse Hage horses, often combined with appearances by his grandchildren, have repeatedly moved and delighted horse-loving Flanders and Belgium.

His son-in-law Patrik Spits owes his international breakthrough to Withney vd Dwerse Hagen, bred by Jos Ceulemans. That moment came around the turn of the millennium.
Jos Ceulemans is a lettuce grower by profession, and among all that green, horses graze. He married at 25 and bought a mare from his father-in-law, the foundation of his breeding operation. Withney put Dwerse Hagen, or DH, firmly on the international map.

Today, the stable is run by his daughter Kristel Ceulemans. Vake Jos focuses on breeding, while his grandchildren take care of the training.
In September, Touch of Joy DH won bronze at the World Championships for Young Horses, ridden by his grandson Thibeau Spits. For Jos Ceulemans, it was yet another moment that felt entirely familiar.

Precious DH had already claimed bronze in 2022, while her full sister Paulien DH finished fifth with Jeroen De Winter, another grandson of Jos Ceulemans.
Paulien, Precious and Touch of Joy are all daughters of Classic Touch DH, the mare with whom Thibeau Spits became European Champion in the Young Riders category in 2022.
By now, the proof is there. Not only Jos himself, but his breeding programme clearly has excellent genes.

Jos Ceulemans is the glue and the cement of a family fully involved in his breeding operation. His children and grandchildren share the same passion, with the horse as a constant thread running through their lives.
This year, his granddaughter Lauranne won bronze at the Belgian Young Riders Championship. Her brother Thibeau Spits became European champion with Team Belgium and, just a month later, claimed bronze at the World Championships for Young Horses. And yes, everyone in the stands heard it every single time.
Jos Ceulemans shows emotion and passion without filters, bringing colour and character to equestrian sport. No one lives the moment more intensely than Jos Ceulemans, the pater familias who united his family around the horse, with a successful breeding programme as the guiding force.
He is a role model for horse people and for people with horses. A true sports personality, now officially recognised as such by Paardensport Vlaanderen.