Aachen is looking forward to the FEI World Equestrian Games 2006 - Opening Ceremony at the weekend – ALRV is well-prepared
A huge number “4″ is illuminated on the display at the entrance to the show grounds. And yet there is no sign of a hectic atmosphere four days before the FEI World Equestrian Games Aachen 2006 commence (August 20th - September 3rd). “We are well-prepared,” Klaus Pavel, President of the Aachen-Laurensberger Rennverein (ALRV), said on Wednesday at the final press conference in the City Hall of Aachen. The sporting programme comprising of seven disciplines has long since been finalised, a majority of the tickets has been sold, the assembly of all necessary constructions on the show grounds is almost complete and the German sportsmen and women are in World Champion form. The accompanying cultural programme organised by the City of Aachen starts on Friday already with a performance of “Lord Of The Rings”. Tickets for the sporting competitions are no longer available for all days, but for most disciplines though, from the telephone hotline +49-(0)241-917-1111.
“The whole of Aachen is incredibly looking forward to the World Championships. Many visitors have already arrived in the city,” commented the Lord Mayor, Dr. Jürgen Linden. During the two weeks of the FEI World Equestrian Games, 500,000 guests will be visiting Aachen, 150,000 of them will be travelling to the country from 51 different nations. “They will be able to experience an extraordinary World Championships tournament,” emphasised Pavel. “We want to prove ourselves as the perfect host, so that the guests return here in the future, allowing the region to profit from this big event for years to come.” The prerequisites for “good, exciting and fair competitions” have indeed already been fulfilled, according to the ALRV Sports Delegate, Baron Wolf von Buchholtz. After all the ALRV has invested almost 18 million Euros into the renovation of its traditional show grounds over the last few years.
Of course the local rider, Nadine Capellmann - reigning double World Dressage Champion - and Kurt Gravemeier, national coach of the German show-jumping squad are speculating on winning medals. Will the German dressage team once again take gold, as they have done for the past 30 years? “Particularly recently the Dutch team has been closing the gap on us,” remarked Nadine Capellmann. “We just need a bit of luck and we should hopefully pull it off. My horse Elvis is in good shape at the moment.” Gravemeier also feels that his team are under pressure to succeed after the many victories of the past months. Recently the public training session in Riesenbeck was attended by “over 3,000 fans for sure. This shows the significance the imminent World Championships have for the people.” The preliminary canter leading up to the WEG - a show programme in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin at the beginning of August - triggered off a national response. “This is going to be a World Championships tournament in and for Germany,” explained Pavel.
The programme at the Soers in Aachen already kicks off next Saturday, August 19th, when the ZDF will be broadcasting its programme “aktuelles sportstudio” live from the Deutsche Bank Stadium at 10 p.m. Before the official Opening Ceremony in the main stadium welcomes the visitors from all over the world on Sunday afternoon from 3 p.m. onwards. “On Monday we will then be able to celebrate the first World Champion,” stated Frank Kemperman, ALRV General Director. In the evening the endurance riders will be greeted by tens of thousands of fans after putting 160 kilometres through Aachen, Belgium and the Netherlands behind them. “A colourful show programme will get the public in the right mood - and nobody has to pay to get in,” said Kemperman.
Of course the TV will be omnipresent during the second largest sporting event in Germany this decade. TV reports will be broadcast in 157 states; on a national level, the media partner, WDR, alone will be showing 1,700 minutes of coverage on Aachen. “So if anyone wants to record everything, they will have to go out and buy a whole shopping trolley full of video cassettes,” joked Sabine Hartelt, presenter of the programme “Sport im Westen”. For instance the Deutsche Bank Prize - the Grand Prix Freestyle - will be broadcast live during prime-time viewing on Saturday, August 26th, starting at 20.15 p.m.
But of course it is best to experience the fascinating atmosphere of the Soers in person. “We are expecting to exhaust 95 percent of the capacity in the stadiums,” explained Michael Mronz, member and spokesman of the WEG OC. This would enable the set goal to be achieved - namely to keep in the black figures. “Other organisers made a deficit of over 10 million Euros. We only need to find a further 450,000 Euros - and we will almost certainly be able to balance out this amount during the WEG.”
So now only one variable has to be sorted out: the weather. “I am in charge of this,” says ALRV President, Klaus Pavel. “So it is going to be good.”
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