Francesca Kolowrat-Krakowská became The Champion of Czech Republic in Younger Juniors

On the weekend of the 10th-11th August in the town of Martinec, Příbram the Czech Republic Parkour Championship in the category of juniors took place. The colours of the Kolowrat Riding Club were worn by Francesca Kolowrat-Krakowska on the horses Calista-T and Tarola-D. She performed amazingly and celebrated her 15th birthday with the gold medal!

First of all, on both horses she completed the opening round without making a single mistake – faultless! On Saturday, her horse Tarala-D hesitated a couple of times at crucial moments, so she decided to compete in the Sunday round with her other horse, Calista-T. In the end she was crowned the overall champion of the competition without even having to jump for her title. No-one else managed to complete the three rounds without picking up penalty points.

“Today was very demanding, both phsically and mentally. The parkour course was designed very technically and I really wish that I could have completed it cleanly with Calista-T. I was fortunate to succeed without even having to jump, which I really didn’t expect, even though I was hoping that would be the case. Although we had already had a couple of successful jumps in a row, this is, of course, nicer,“ said Francesca Kolowrat-Krakowska. For me, personally, the most challenging phase of the final parkour was between the jumps 8, 9 and 10. The distance between 8 and 9 was about 5 canters and then about 7 or 8 canters to take us to jump number 10. It was, therefore, hugely important to make a decision quickly as to whether to take on the jump with more or fewer canters,“ commented Francesca as she described the part of the competition she considered to be the most difficult.

Five pairs were in competition for the silver and bronze medals, where, after three rounds 4 penalty points were added for one mistake In the end the precious medal was hung around the neck of Antonia Sabathilova, who, on her horse Antlia, was attempting to defend the title she won last year. Her hopes of retaining her crown suffered a blow in the third round when her horse hesitated at the massive triple bar. In the jumping, she once again demonstrated a faultless ride, while others were penalised. Third place was taken by Alexandr Baraldi on his horse Uniek 1, posting the quickest time whist making only one mistake. “Tonicka Sabathilova was a very strong competitor. Therefore I subsequently tipped her for the silver medal. Of course I wanted success for my fellow competitors as well. Lexa Baraldi put in a very nice performance as did the spirited competitor Kacka De Jagerova. She had a strong first two rounds, but unfortunately for her in the end too many rounds didn’t go for her and she finished in sixth,“ said Francesca.

The Czech Republic Championship was very well-run. Only on the first day, when it rained, did I worry that the ground was too saturated and would affect the continuity of the championship. That, in the end, didn’t happen and we hugely enjoyed the whole three days,“ added Francesca Kolowrat-Krakowska.