Justin Verboomen: Belgium’s new golden boy
The story that captured everyone’s hearts in Crozet, and perhaps the wider equestrian world, belonged to a newcomer in black, yellow and red.
Belgium’s Justin Verboomen, making his European Championship debut, paired with the nine-year-old stallion Zonik Plus to deliver not just one, but two golden rides.
The first came on Friday (29 August) in the Grand Prix Special, where their 82.371 per cent score marked them instantly as contenders.
Then, on Sunday (31 August), beneath a clearing sky and before a sold-out crowd, Verboomen stepped into the theatre of the Freestyle to music.
Much like in figure skating’s free skate, riders here craft their own stories, stitching compulsory movements to melody, blurring technique and storytelling.
The Belgian duo did just that, the crowd clapping in time with the stallion’s hooves, as if the arena itself had found its pulse.
There was a wobble in the half pass, a moment where it could all have slipped away, yet Verboomen’s composure and Zonik Plus’ focus pulled the performance back into harmony. Their score, a personal best 89.964 per cent, secured Belgium’s second-ever medal at a European Championship, and with it, the arrival of a new name to reckon with.
“I can’t believe it,” Verboomen admitted to FEI.org. “The second victory is really a surprise for me. I’m very proud of my horse again. He’s so young. He’s always attentive to me. I think it’s his greatest quality.”
By toppling riders such as Denmark’s Laudrup-Dufour and Germany’s Werth, the most decorated in the sport’s history, Verboomen’s star was unmistakably born.
Great Britain’s Paris 2024 bronze medallist Becky Moody finished just outside the podium in fourth.