The Netherlands, long a powerhouse in international show jumping, is at serious risk of missing the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics after failing to qualify at both the World Championships in Aachen (Germany) in August and the League of Nations finals in Saint-Tropez last weekend. The Dutch federation's (KNHS) elite sport manager Laurens van Lieren cited an ageing crop of top horses — including the near-retirement of Beauville Z, on which Maikel van der Vleuten won Olympic silver and two bronzes — as a key factor, compounded by the sale of talented young horses abroad, a common consequence of the Netherlands' status as a major global horse-trading nation. The team's last remaining route to Los Angeles qualification is the European Championships in Belgium next August, a situation van Lieren described as concerning but not hopeless, pointing to emerging combinations such as rider Michael Greeve and his young horse Rubens as potential building blocks for recovery.