Hölle Martin individually, and the Hungarian team with Kristóf Osztertág and jr. Together with György Fekete, he defended his title at the two-gear world championship held in Le Pin au Haras, France. With the success of the now eight-time world champion Hölle and the national team, both gold medals went to Hungary for the sixth time in a row, which is unique in the history of the sport.
Hölle Martin, who won both individually and with the team, sees a lot of work as the key to his success at the two-wheel drive world championship in Le Pin au Haras, France.
– This success means happiness, great happiness. The Hungarian team is a six-time world champion in a row, this is a huge experience for the whole country and for us as well. It's good to be a part of this - Hölle Martin, who took part in this series four times (2017, 2019, 2021, 2023), also won the individual world championship title each time, told the M1 current channel.
"The secret of success is a lot of work. We had a very difficult year, which was not easy to live through."
Hölle Martin also said that, in his opinion, the new victory will put pressure on them to repeat this result at the next World Cup. The junior Fekete, who finished in 12th place in the individual and won the World Cup again with the team after 2021, evaluated the competition with satisfaction, like György Hölle.
"Thank you for being a member of the Hungarian team again. I think that the two numbers that were expected of me were successful. Today, there was a small technical error, because of which I couldn't get one hundred percent out of myself and my horses, but thank God, that was enough," he said.
On the closing day, jr. Fekete moved up three places in the steeplechase and finished in 12th position, the third member of the team, Kristóf Osztertág, the World Championship leader after 2019 with the Hungarian national team, took a risk on Sunday in the hope of an individual podium, because of this he slightly messed up the steeplechase and slipped from fifth to 19th place . He said: Saturday and Sunday were particularly difficult.
"Today was a battle of nerves, and I think it was the most difficult for all of us," declared Ostertág, who also revealed what he was most satisfied with. "What we discussed in advance, so that I could help the team as much as possible in the race for the prize, I succeeded, it was the best thing for me at the World Cup".
After the competition, Károly Fugli, the chairman of the international federation (FEI) driving specialist committee, called Hölle Martin's individual and the Hungarian team's triumph a sporting history:
»It's good to be Hungarian here in France. This is truly a serious sports historical success, that there is a Hungarian individual winner for the sixth time in a row, of which Hölle won his fourth consecutive victory, and the Hungarian team also won the gold medal for the sixth time without interruption. It is clear that the Hungarian competitors are still the determining factors in this discipline, in fact, they are at the forefront. We hope it will stay that way for a long time," he said.
According to Károly Fugli, it was a very exciting and fierce fight, which is clearly shown by the fact that during the obstacle course on Sunday, the order changed a lot compared to the standings after the first two numbers. He noted that the Hungarian track builder of the World Cup, the former national team captain Gábor Fintha, had an invaluable role in this, who designed a marathon course that tested man and horse, and the most revealing thing about the course management of the steeplechase is that no one could do it without a hitting error worth three fault points and in the time limit of 2:48 minutes to fulfill within.
