Bram Chardon of the Netherlands won a record fourth consecutive four-in-hand title at the FEI Driving European Championship for Four-in_-Hand 2025 in Lähden (GER) on Sunday, cementing a gold medal for the team from the Netherlands as well.

Germany’s Christoph Sandmann, whose family did a spectacular job organising the event, was awarded the Individual silver medal, ending the competition 7 points behind Chardon. Belgium’s Dries Degrieck carried off the bronze.

The younger Chardon’s top finish gave the Dutch team of his father, Ijsbrand Chardon, and Koos de Ronde another gold medal, having also won in 2023 at Exloo. Belgium edged out Germany for the silver, pinning the home nation into the Team bronze medal position.

The final day of Driving in the European Championship is always a thrilling one, culminating in the cones competition. Scores from the previous days’ dressage and marathon phases are carried over. Still, opportunities abound for a shakeup to the leaderboard for those who can produce clear rounds within the time allowed.

Heading into Sunday’s event, the German father-daughter pair of Christoph Sandmann and Anna Sandmann were in the 1-2 slots. Bram Chardon was sitting in third, with Ijsbrand Chardon on his heels in fourth. Degrieck was hovering in fifth, eager to challenge them for a trip to the podium.

Jeroen Houterman’s Course Design Worthy Of a World Championship

Jeroen Houterman’s course on the grass arena featured a looping track of narrowly set cones with a ball atop each one. Knocking a ball down meant 3 penalty points, and anything over 190 seconds on the clock would also add to any carriage’s score.

Jérôme Voutaz of Switzerland rose to the top of the field in the cones phase about halfway through the afternoon, and it wasn’t until Degrieck’s 5.84-point round at the sharp end of the day that his position dropped to second.

In one of numerous multigenerational family rivalries, Ijsbrand Chardon put 7.09 on the board to place him behind Degrieck. Would it be enough to get him to the awards ceremony and possibly even beat his son?

Next up, Bram Chardon executed a gorgeous round, picking up zero points for cones down and only adding 0.12 points for being a fraction of a second over the time. It rocketed him to the top of the scoreboard and left him to hold his breath for the final two rounds.

That was a tough act to follow for Anna Sandmann, who wound up having a hard day on the cones course. A score of 16.92 put her out of medal contention, which left only her father to challenge Bram. And it guaranteed the Netherlands a Team gold with Belgium (Degrieck, Tom Stokmans, and Glenn Geerts) taking the silver and Germany (Anna Sandmann, Michael Brauchle, and Anna Mareike Meier) the bronze.

It wasn’t to be for the elder Sandmann, who added 14.81 points to his overnight score — more than he had in hand in order to maintain his lead. Christoph would have to settle for second place overall behind Bram, with Ijsbrand Chardon landing in fourth after Degrieck.

Daniel Schneiders of Austria ended his campaign in Germany in fifth place, with Anna Sandmann finishing sixth. Meier, who won the dressage phase, finished in seventh, followed by Fredrik Persson of Sweden, de Ronde, and Voutaz in the top 10.

The Czech Republic took fourth place in the Team category, followed by Hungary, Sweden, France, and Poland.

Whilst the FEI Driving European Championship has wrapped up at Lähden, there’s more Driving excitement on the horizon, with a new FEI Driving World Cup™ season starting in autumn. It’s all live on FEI TV!