Isabell Werth (born 21 July 1969 in

Issum Issum is a municipality in the district of Kleve, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located approximately east of Geldern. Economy Issum is home to the Diebels brewery, the largest altbier brewery in the world. Notable natives ...

) is a German

equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or Riding in British English) Examples of this are: * Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes i ...

and

world champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

in dressage who competed in the Olympics six times (1992, 1996, 2000, 2008, 2016, 2020) winning twelve medals, seven of them gold. She holds the record for the most Olympic medals won by any equestrian athlete.

Career

Werth rode

Gigolo A gigolo () is a male escort or social companion who is supported by a person in a continuing relationship, often living in her residence or having to be present at her beck and call. The term ''gigolo'' usually implies a man who adopts a lifes ...

, owned by

Uwe Schulten-Baumer Uwe Schulten-Baumer (14 January 1926 – 28 October 2014), nicknamed "Der Doktor" (The Doctor), was a German show jumping and dressage rider who became an internationally famous dressage trainer and coach who worked with Nicole Up ...

, her coach from 1986 until 2001. 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. Werth competed at the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

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 José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacul ...

. 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. Isabell Werth worked alongside Bates Australia to develop the Isabell Dressage Saddle available in Bates and Wintec.

International championship results

Notable horses

* 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

On 24 June 2009, the forbidden substance

fluphenazine Fluphenazine, sold under the brand name Prolixin among others, is a high-potency typical antipsychotic medication. It is used in the treatment of chronic psychoses such as schizophrenia, and appears to be about equal in effectiveness to low-pote ...

was found in the A-sample from Werth's horse Whisper at a Whitsun tournament at

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...

. She was suspended from all tournaments by the

International Federation for Equestrian Sports The International Federation for Equestrian Sports (, FEI) is the international governing body of equestrian sports. The FEI headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland. An FEI code of conduct protects the welfare of the horses from physical abu ...

(FEI). On 2 September 2009, the suspension was set by the FEI to six months from 23 June.Schock für Olympiasiegerin Werth
Süddeutsche.de from 24 June katie 2009
FAZ from 2 September 2009 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.

Computer game

In 2007, a PC Game was released called "''Isabell Werth – Reitsport''". Made by French company Dancing Dots / German publisher Frogster Interactive, 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''", 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, the game executable can be overwritten, converting it to the original German version, except for the German instructional audio which is missing.

References

External links

* * * *
Isabell Werth official website

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Werth, Isabell Equestrians at the 1992 Summer Olympics Equestrians at the 1996 Summer Olympics Equestrians at the 2000 Summer Olympics Equestrians at the 2008 Summer Olympics Equestrians at the 2016 Summer Olympics Equestrians at the 2020 Summer Olympics Horse-related video games German dressage riders Olympic equestrians of Germany German female equestrians Olympic gold medalists for Germany Olympic silver medalists for Germany Members of the Order of Merit of North Rhine-Westphalia People from Wesel (district) Sportspeople from Düsseldorf (region) German sportspeople in doping cases 1969 births Living people Olympic medalists in equestrian Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics