A jury of equestrian and sports journalists named the most elegant male and female riders at the CSIO Switzerland held in Lucerne. In the end, it was Switzerland’s Christina Liebherr, riding L.B. No Mercy, and her compatriot Beat Mändli, on Principal, who saw their elegance, charisma and performance at the Cup of Nations rewarded. The two winners of the third stage of the Longines Press Award for Elegance earned valuable points that count toward the final ranking in the Longines Press Award for Elegance. The prize, worth more than CHF 60,000, will be awarded at the end of the season at the CSIO Barcelona.

The prestigious jury, composed of members of the equestrian and sports press, named the Swiss Christina Liebherr and her compatriot Beat Mändli as the most elegant riders at this third stage of the Longines Press Award for Elegance.

In a unanimous decision, the jury named the young Swiss woman Christina Liebherr, riding L.B. No Mercy, as the most elegant rider, thanks to her precision, suppleness, charisma and elegance—and despite her somewhat « difficult » horse. She won over the jury with her radiance and her intelligence. Second and third places were jointly assigned to the American Molly Ashe and the German Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum, who had been awarded the same number of points.

All five jury votes went to the Swiss Beat Mändli, on Principal. His nimble style and precision surpassed that of all other candidates. Beat was a perfect expression of all the values required of a winner in the Press Award for Elegance: constancy (irrespective of the horse), perfect harmony with his mount, consideration for the horse, and respect, which makes him a true champion. Second place was won by the German Marcus Ehning, who had won first place at the first Longines Prize event earlier in the season; third place was taken by Ireland’s Cameron Hanley.

This third stage in the Longines Press Award for Elegance, which took place in Lucerne, welcomed a number of prominent guests and rivals in elegance: the singer Nubya, actor Stefan Gubser, model Raquel Lehmann, and publisher Jürg Marquart, all of whom took great pleasure in encouraging the riders and their mounts.

Source: Longines

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