Boyd Exell has won individual gold at the FEI world four-in-hand driving championships in Germany, retaining the title he won back in 2010.

Strong performances

Boyd had very strong performances in all three phases. He came second in the dressage just 0.38 penalty points behind the USA’s Chester Webber, and took an early lead in the marathon with a fast time. However, Tomas Eriksson from Sweden stole his lead and the Australian driver took second place once again.

This was still enough to put him 14 points ahead of his USA rival going into the final obstacle phase. Boyd drove a safe round to secure his gold medal, with Chester taking silver and bronze going to four times world champion IJsbrand Chardon from the Netherlands.

Going to plan

“I am very happy with my gold medal,” said Boyd, who moved to the UK when he was 21. “Everything went according to plan this weekend, from the horses to the people and the carriages, it all worked out.”

Boyd drove the same team that took him to victory at the World Equestrian Games (WEG) in Kentucky in 2010. “The difference between winning in Riesenbeck and Kentucky is that this medal doesn’t cost as much money!” he added.

The Dutch won team gold for the third consecutive time, ahead of the host nation Germany, while the bronze medal went to the USA.