Isabell Werth (born 21 July 1969 in Issum) is a German equestrian and world championindressage who competed in the Olympics six times (1992, 1996, 2000, 2008, 2016, 2020) winning twelve medals, seven of them gold. With this she beat Aladar Gerevich, Hungarian fencer and Mark Todd of New Zealand, record for the most years between first and last Olympic medals (29 years as the Tokyo olympics was in 2021). She holds the record for the most Olympic medals won by any equestrian athlete.

Career[edit]

Werth rode Gigolo, owned by Uwe Schulten-Baumer, her coach from 1986 until 2001.^[1] On Gigolo, she won all her championships between 1992 and 2000, save for the 1999 European Championships in Arnheim, where she rode Anthony FRH. In 2006, she started riding Warum Nicht FRH at the international level and with him won the 2007 World Cup in Las Vegas. Warum Nicht retired in 2012.^[2] Werth competed at the Olympic Games with Satchmo, who subsequently retired in November 2011. In 2010, Werth started riding El Santo at the international level until the horse was transferred in 2016 to Spanish rider José Antonio Garcia Mena.^[3] In 2016, Werth secured the ride on Weihegold Old, with whom she won the team gold medal and a silver medal in the Individual Dressage at the Rio Olympics.

In 2022, Werth was eliminated from the CHIO Aachen after blood appeared on her horse during the competition.^[4]

International championship results[edit]

Results
Year	Event	Horse	Score	Placing	Notes
1989	European Championships	Weingart		13th	Individual
1991	European Championships	Gigolo FRH			Team
1991	European Championships	Gigolo FRH			Individual
1992	Olympic Games	Gigolo FRH			Team
1992	Olympic Games	Gigolo FRH			Individual
1993	European Championships	Gigolo FRH			Team
1993	European Championships	Gigolo FRH			Individual
1996	Olympic Games	Gigolo FRH			Team
1996	Olympic Games	Gigolo FRH			Individual
1998	World Equestrian Games	Gigolo FRH			Team
1998	World Equestrian Games	Gigolo FRH			Individual
1999	European Championships	Antony FRH			Team
1999	European Championships	Antony FRH		16th	Individual
2000	World Cup Final	Antony FRH		4th
2000	Olympic Games	Gigolo FRH			Team
2000	Olympic Games	Gigolo FRH			Individual
2001	World Cup Final	Antony FRH
2001	European Championships	Antony FRH			Team
2001	European Championships	Antony FRH		16th	Individual
2002	World Cup Final	Antony FRH		5th
2003	World Cup Final	Antony FRH		4th
2003	European Championships	Satchmo 78		17th	Individual
2004	World Cup Final	Apache OLD		9th
2006	World Cup Final	Warum Nicht FRH
2006	World Equestrian Games	Satchmo 78			Team
					Individual Special
					Individual Freestyle
2007	World Cup Final	Warum Nicht FRH	84.250%
2007	European Championships	Satchmo 78	76.750%		Team
			78.360%		Individual Special
			83.200%		Individual Freestyle
2008	World Cup Final	Warum Nicht FRH	82.600%
2008	Olympic Games	Satchmo 78	76.417%		Team
2008	Olympic Games	Satchmo 78	78.100%		Individual
2009	World Cup Final	Satchmo 78	84.500%
2010	World Cup Final	Warum Nicht FRH	79.750%	4th
2010	World Equestrian Games	Warum Nicht FRH	75.404%		Team
			72.000%	10th	Individual Special
			80.000%	6th	Individual Freestyle
2011	World Cup Final	Satchmo 78	77.143%	5th
2011	European Championships	El Santo NRW	75.213%		Team
			76.533%	7th	Individual Special
			80.536%	7th	Individual Freestyle
2012	World Cup Final	El Santo NRW	79.964%	4th
2013	World Cup Final	Don Johnson FRH	80.429%	5th
2013	European Championships	Don Johnson FRH	75.213%		Team
2013	European Championships	Don Johnson FRH	71.890%	20th	Individual Special
2014	World Cup Final	El Santo NRW	79.089%	5th
2014	World Equestrian Games	Bella Rose 2	81.529%		Team
2014	World Equestrian Games	Bella Rose 2		31st	Individual Special
2015	World Cup Final	El Santo NRW	77.875%	6th
2015	European Championships	Don Johnson FRH	74.900%		Team
			75.924%	7th	Individual Special
			82.483%	4th	Individual Freestyle
2016	Olympic Games	Weihegold OLD	80.463%		Team
2016	Olympic Games	Weihegold OLD	89.071%		Individual
2017	World Cup Final	Weihegold OLD	90.704%
2017	European Championships	Weihegold OLD	83.743%		Team
			83.613%		Individual Special
			90.982%		Individual Freestyle
2018	World Cup Final	Weihegold OLD	90.658%
2018	World Equestrian Games	Bella Rose 2	84.824%		Team
2018	World Equestrian Games	Bella Rose 2	86.246%		Individual Special
2019	World Cup Final	Weihegold OLD	88.872%
2019	European Championships	Bella Rose 2	85.652%		Team
			86.520%		Individual Special
			90.875%		Individual Freestyle
2021	Olympic Games	Bella Rose 2	83.298%		Team
2021	Olympic Games	Bella Rose 2	89.657%		Individual Freestyle

Notable horses[edit]

Weingart – 1984 Chestnut Hanoverian Mare (Weinstock x Winkel)
- 1989 European Championships – Team Gold Medal, Individual 13th Place
Gigolo FRH – 1983 Chestnut Hanoverian Gelding (Graditz x Busoni XX)
- 1991 European Championships – Team Gold Medal, Individual Gold Medal
- 1992 Barcelona Olympics – Team Gold Medal, Individual Silver Medal
- 1993 European Championships – Team Gold Medal, Individual Gold Medal
- 1994 World Equestrian Games – Team Gold Medal, Individual Silver
- 1996 Atlanta Olympics – Team Gold Medal, Individual Gold Medal
- 1998 World Equestrian Games – Team Gold Medal, Individual Gold Medal
- 2000 Sydney Olympics – Team Gold Medal, Individual Silver Medal
Antony FRH – 1986 Dark Bay Hanoverian Gelding (Argument x Wenzel I)
- 1999 European Championships – Team Gold Medal, Individual 16th Place
- 2000 FEI World Cup Final – Fourth Place
- 2001 FEI World Cup Final – Silver Medal
- 2001 European Championships – Team Gold Medal, Individual 16th Place
- 2002 FEI World Cup Final – Fifth Place
- 2003 FEI World Cup Final – Fourth Place
Satchmo 78 – 1994 Dark Bay Hanoverian Gelding (São Paulo x Legat)
- 2003 European Championships – Team Gold Medal, Individual 17th Place
- 2006 World Equestrian Games – Team Gold Medal, Individual Gold Medal, Individual Bronze Medal Freestyle
- 2007 European Championships – Team Silver Medal, Individual Gold Medal, Individual Silver Medal Freestyle
- 2008 Beijing Olympics – Team Gold Medal, Individual Silver Medal
- 2009 FEI World Cup Final – Silver Medal
- 2011 FEI World Cup Final – Fifth Place
Apache OLD – 1993 Bay Oldenburg Gelding (Alabaster x Grundstein I)
- 2004 FEI World Cup Final – Ninth Place
Warum Nicht FRH – 1996 Chestnut Hanoverian Gelding (Weltmeyer x Wenzel I)
- 2006 FEI World Cup Final – Silver Medal
- 2007 FEI World Cup Final – Gold Medal
- 2008 FEI World Cup Final – Silver Medal
- 2010 FEI World Cup Final – Fourth Place
- 2010 World Equestrian Games – Team Bronze Medal, Individual Tenth Place, Individual Sixth Place Freestyle
El Santo NRW – 2001 Bay Rheinlander Gelding (Ehrentusch x Rythmus)
- 2011 European Championships – Team Silver Medal, Individual Seventh Place, Individual Seventh Place Freestyle
- 2012 FEI World Cup Final – Fourth Place
- 2014 FEI World Cup Final – Fifth Place
- 2015 FEI World Cup Final – Sixth Place
Don Johnson FRH – 2001 Bay Hanoverian Gelding (Don Frederico x Warkant)
- 2013 FEI World Cup Final – Fifth Place
- 2013 European Championships – Team Gold Medal, Individual 20th Place
- 2015 European Championships – Team Bronze Medal, Individual Seventh Place, Individual Fourth Place Freestyle
Bella Rose 2 – 2004 Chestnut Westfalen Mare (Belissimo x Cacir AA)
- 2014 World Equestrian Games – Team Gold Medal
- 2018 World Equestrian Games – Team Gold Medal, Special Gold Medal
- 2019 European Championships – Team Gold Medal, Special Gold Medal, Freestyle Gold Medal
Weihegold OLD – 2005 Black Oldenburg Mare (Don Schufro x Sandro Hit)
- 2016 Rio Olympics – Team Gold Medal, Individual Silver Medal
- 2017 FEI World Cup Final – Gold Medal
- 2017 European Championships – Team Gold Medal, Individual Gold Medal, Individual Gold Medal Freestyle
- 2018 FEI World Cup Final – Gold Medal
- 2019 FEI World Cup Final – Gold Medal

Doping[edit]

On 24 June 2009, the forbidden substance fluphenazine was found in the A-sample from Werth's horse Whisper at a Whitsun tournament at Wiesbaden. She was suspended from all tournaments by the International Federation for Equestrian Sports (FEI). On 2 September 2009, the suspension was set by the FEI to six months from 23 June.^[5]^[6]

Werth subsequently stated that the drug was given to the horse to treat equine shivers—mainly for the safety of the horse's handlers—and that she does not believe the drug influences a horse's ability to compete.^[7]

Computer game[edit]

In 2007, a PC Game was released called "Isabell Werth – Reitsport".^[8] Made by French company Dancing Dots / German publisher Frogster Interactive,^[9] it is an Equestrian Simulation with 3-day Eventing, Show Jumping and Cross-Country Riding. Isabell Werth takes a part as an on-screen trainer, giving advice and pointers on how to ride and handle horses during training and eventing. Now out of print, the original websites can be seen at the Internet Archive Wabac machine, and the game itself is now available at Big Fish Games retitled – "Ride! Equestrian Simulation",^[10] with a French-man replacing Isabell as the trainer. Isabell's game character file is still in the data structure of the game, and using a patch still available,^[11] the game executable can be overwritten, converting it to the original German version, except for the German instructional audio which is missing.

References[edit]

^ "Gigolo Passed Away". Eurodressage. 23 September 2009. Retrieved 29 May 2012.

^ "Warum Nicht Passed Away | eurodressage". www.eurodressage.com. Retrieved 13 August 2016.

^ "Jose Antonio Garcia Mena Gets Ride on El Santo for 2016 Olympic Year | eurodressage". www.eurodressage.com. Retrieved 13 August 2016.

^ Bryan, Polly (5 July 2022). "Isabell Werth among riders eliminated under blood rules at CHIO Aachen". Horse & Hound. Retrieved 21 May 2024.

^ Schock für Olympiasiegerin Werth Süddeutsche.de from 24 June katie 2009

^ Werth kann in London für Deutschland reiten FAZ from 2 September 2009

^ "Isabell Werth 'deeply regrets' horse doping incident". horsetalk.co.nz. 25 June 2009. Retrieved 13 April 2016. 'This illness is not painful and does not influence a horse's ability to compete, but it entails an increased risk for the persons working with the horse (farrier, groom, rider),' Werth said.

^ "Isabell Werth – Reitsport". 29 June 2007. Archived from the original on 29 June 2007. Retrieved 3 September 2018.

^ "Frogster Interactive". 25 May 2007. Archived from the original on 25 May 2007. Retrieved 3 September 2018.

^ "Ride! at Big Fish Games". Retrieved 3 September 2018.

^ "The Patches Scrolls – Ride! Equestrian Simulation patch 1.2". patches-scrolls.de. Retrieved 3 September 2018.