“That will give the equestrian sport a real push!”

One can quite safely describe her as a living legend of the equestrian sport. Isabell Werth is the most successful dressage rider of all time and has collected more medals on the equestrian sport circuit than anyone else anywhere in the world. She won two gold and one bronze medal at the FEI World Equestrian Games in Aachen in 2006. At the 2026 FEI World Championships at the same location she may add further medals to the list. In an interview, the 54-year-old spoke about the significance of Aachen winning the bid for the World Championships and about her memories of 2006.

The FEI World Championships are being staged in Aachen in 2026. What does this mean for the equestrian sport?

That is fantastic news. Staging the World Championships in Aachen will give the equestrian sport a real push. And not only in Germany, but worldwide. The memory of 2006 will be an inspiration for everyone, I am convinced.

You mentioned the year 2006. Many people still talk about the best championships that the equestrian sport has ever experienced even today. What are your memories of the event?

I can certainly say that the 2006 World Equestrian Games in Aachen was definitely the best championships I have ever taken part in, even including all of the Olympic Games. For me the emotionality that was sensed there remains unparalleled up to this very day. Anyone who didn’t experience it live at the time, can’t imagine the atmosphere at the Soers. It was simply incredible.

As in 2006 the dressage riders will be battling it out for gold, silver and bronze in the Main Stadium.

Fantastic. It is meanwhile quite normal for the show jumpers to compete in Aachen in front of 40,000 spectators, but for us it will be an absolute highlight in our careers again. 2006 was the first time we had experienced such dimensions. You had to try and blend everything that was going on around you out first, like in an oasis. But that energy and the feeling when the crowds started cheering and all of the German flags were waving, was unique.

How great is your desire to experience that here in Aachen again in 2026?

Of course, I would love to take part. I will try my very hardest to qualify for Aachen in 2026!