The Dutch rider, Willem Greve, is travelling to the CHIO Aachen as the contender for the Rolex Grand Slam. We visited the amiable show-jumper at his home in Markelo.

There are moments one remembers for an entire lifetime. Scenarios which life writes that are better than any film script. Willem Greve has experienced such a moment. Even though weeks have passed since his sensational triumph, an incredible grin spreads over the Dutchman’s face when he recalls that moment when he celebrates the biggest victory in his career to-date – winning the Rolex Grand Prix at The Dutch Masters. “It was simply unbelievable,” is how the 41-year-old describes the final line of the jump-off, when he and his 12-year-old KWPN-bred stallion, Highway TN N.O.P., were accompanied by frenzied cheering and encouraging whistles. He beams even more radiantly as he recounts how he glanced up to the scoreboard after the last oxer and really couldn’t believe what he read: “-0.04 seconds were lit up in green digits. Then, I knew I had won.” And not only that: With this victory – in front of his home crowd of all places – Willem Greve was the first Dutch show-jumper ever to claim a Major victory and is thus the next contender for the Rolex Grand Slam.

“You dream of such a victory your whole life long,” said Wil-lem Greve with a huge smile on his face again, while sipping his coffee relaxedly at home on his terrace. Home is Markelo, an idyllic village in the Dutch province of Overijssel. In 2011, he purchased a small equestrian facility and has gradually transformed it into a dreamlike domicile for himself and his horses. The beautiful house with brown brickwork and large, white lattice windows is the first thing that catches the eye. From there the glance falls automatically on the picturesque looking jumping arena that lies in the shadow of tall trees, nearby horses are snoozing in the sun, further to the left others are doing their rounds in the thatched horse walker. Rounded off by a modern, indoor school the facility offers top training conditions. Not to mention a fantastic team, who support the rider from the Netherlands. “It is of immense importance to have the right people around you,” stated Willem Greve, who knows how close success and failure lie in his sport.

His first participation at an Olympic Games was in 2021 in Tokyo (JPN). Willem Greve feels that he has finally joined the ranks of the world elite. He is making plans. Then, in the middle of the preparations for the World Championships in Herning, Denmark, a year later he experienced a setback. He took a fall with a horse and broke his ankle and his upper arm. The period of convalescence certainly wasn’t easy for the Dutchman. “My injury really was bitter,” he said looking back. But giving up wasn’t an option. His passion for his sport and the horses that have surrounded him all his life is too great. “Very young,” he answered with a grin, when asked how old he was when he started riding. He just couldn’t quite decide which discipline to opt for at first. “As a young lad, I loved horse racing,” he stated, adding: “But there is no future for jockeys in the Netherlands.” So, he tried his luck at jump-ing – and stuck with it. A decision that he hasn’t regretted to this very day. Even after his bad fall. “One has to be tough in our sport,” reported Willem Greve, who didn’t lose confidence during those difficult months either. “In my head, the only thing that was important was getting fit again as soon as possible.” Resolutely, but with the necessary measure of rationality, he fights his way back into the saddle and already made it back onto the Dutch team in time for the European Championships in Milan (ITA) in 2023.

And to represent his country is precisely Willem Greve’s aim when the Olympic Games are staged in Paris this summer. However, prior to the climax of the year in the French Capital, a further highlight is written in his diary in capital letters: the CHIO Aachen. The 41-year-old is travelling to the World Equestrian Festival as the contender for the Rolex Grand Slam. A burden? “No”, he says decisively. “It is a great honour for me. I am hugely looking forward to competing in Aachen.” And who knows, perhaps Willem Greve will experience a further unforgettable moment on the conclud-ing Sunday in the Rolex Grand Prix like one out of a film script. One with a happy end.