Sönke Rothenberger Explained

Sönke Rothenberger (born 14 October 1994) is a German Olympic equestrian.^{[1] [2]} He represented his country at the 2016 Summer Olympics, where he finished in 19th place in the individual dressage competition.^[3] He was also part of the German dressage team which won the gold medal in the team dressage competition.^[4] In 2024 he was the first traveling reserve for the German dressage team at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.^[5]

Sönke is the only son of dressage riders Sven and Gonnelien Rothenberger, multiple Olympic medalists from 1996 Summer Olympics. German-born Sven switched to the Netherlands after marrying Gonnelien. Meanwhile, Sönke, as well as his sisters Sanneke and Semmieke, have been representing Germany since the start of their international careers.^[6]

International Championship Results

Results
Year	Event	Horse	Score	Placing	Notes
2007	European Pony Championships	Deinhard B	72.947%		Team
			73.000%		Individual
2008	European Pony Championships	Deinhard B			Team
					Individual
2009	European Pony Championships	Deinhard B			Team
					Individual
				15th	Individual Freestyle
2014	European Young Rider Championships	Cosmo 59	75.632%		Team
			74.500%		Individual
			73.330%	9th	Individual Freestyle
2016	Olympic Games	Cosmo 59	77.329%		Team
			76.271%	10th	Individual Special
2017	European Championships	Cosmo 59	78.343%		Team
			82.479%		Individual Special
			90.614%		Individual Freestyle
2018	World Equestrian Games	Cosmo 59	81.444%		Team
			81.277%	4th	Individual Special
2019	European Championships	Cosmo 59	79.084%		Team
			78.115%	6th	Individual Special

Notable Horses

• Deinhard B - 1999 Palomino German Riding Pony Stallion (Dornick B x Golden Dancer)
  • 2007 European Pony Championships - Team Gold Medal, Individual Bronze Medal
  • 2008 European Pony Championships - Team Gold Medal, Individual Gold Medal
  • 2009 European Pony Championships - Team Gold Medal, Individual Silver Medal, Individual 15th Place Freestyle
• Cosmo 59 - 2007 Bay Dutch Warmblood Gelding (Van Gogh x Fruhling)
  • 2014 European Young Rider Championships - Team Gold Medal, Individual Bronze Medal, Individual Ninth Place Freestyle
  • 2016 Rio Olympics - Team Gold Medal, Individual 19th Place
  • 2017 European Championships - Team Gold Medal, Individual Silver Medal, Individual Silver Medal Freestyle
  • 2018 World Equestrian Games - Team Gold Medal

Notes and References

1. Web site: Sönke Rothenberger. fei.org . 14 February 2017.
2. Web site: Sonke Rothenberger . Rio 2016 . 12 August 2016 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160815080614/https://www.rio2016.com/en/athlete/sonke-rothenberger . 15 August 2016 .
3. Web site: Rio 2016 . Rio 2016 . 2016-09-01 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160826094537/https://www.rio2016.com/en/equestrian-standings-eq-dressage-individual . 2016-08-26 .
4. Web site: Rio 2016 . Rio 2016 . 2016-09-01 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160806084155/https://www.rio2016.com/en/equestrian-standings-eq-dressage-team . 2016-08-06 .
5. News: Netz Loses German Olympic Team Reserve Spot, Rothenberger and Hemmer Called Up. Eurodressage. 20 July 2024.
6. News: Rothenberger. Dressurstall-Rothenberger. 14 February 2017.