”She” is a mare, named Cicci and is 14 years old and performed, despite an eye that has been surgically removed a long time ago, at her best when it mattered most in the championship outside La Coruña.
Three ”zeros” in five days was the message everyone, from Hellström to the national team captain Henrik Ankarcrona, wanted before future, important tasks.
The demolition on Friday is taken by the rider.
Friday's setback bothers me even more, but okay, now we've done everything we can – and a little more. It was a revenge and she is in the form of her life, says Hellström.
Well-timed maximum time
The team got to ride the first final round thanks to some withdrawals. To advance from 24th place and make it into the top 12 in the final round was difficult enough. It didn't get any easier when several teams did like Hellström, cleared all obstacles and the time.
This meant a final 19th place with 6.55 faults.
It wasn't easy, no ”walk in the park”, but in a competition like this, the time could have been set tighter.
Hellström leaves La Coruña with nice feelings, for various reasons.
Fantastic feeling. This is a spur for next year (World Championship in Aachen). I'm super happy.
Wedding next year
The ring on her finger also shows that fun things have happened privately. Hellström is engaged to the Irishman Eoin McMahon and a wedding is planned for next year.
In May, a Thursday, says Wilma Hellström and laughs.
The date is carefully planned with regard to the competition calendar.
Her fiancé has been highly involved in the daily work during the championship in Casas Novas.
He's a rock, says Wilma Hellström.
In the pre-talk, Hellström had tipped the German Richard Vogel and United Touch as winners – and she was right.
Vogel stopped at 0.01 faults, won before Scott Brash and Gilles Thomas.
It shows how much we have grown together. The horse just kept clearing all obstacles, says Vogel to SVT.
For several years, the Swede Felicia Wallin has been a groom with Vogel.
She's very important. She's the one who is closest to the horse. They are very close to each other, says the freshly crowned European Champion.
