Showjumper Ava Vernon wins gold at Youth European Championships after tense finale

Skegness showjumper Ava Vernon has won gold at the Youth European Championships.

She can proudly add the individual title to the team gold she secured earlier in the week at Vilamoura, Portugal

Riding the 12 year-old bay mare Jolie Fleur van de Noordheuvel, owned by Dean Vernon, Ava ha

sat in silver medal position across the initial three legs of the competition; having delivered three foot-perfect performances to only carry forward the first leg coefficient of 0.39.

Coming into the fourth and final leg of the competition it had been Ireland's Tom Wachman who held the lead, but with so many combinations sitting with less than a single penalty between them the competition was wide open for the taking.

From an initial field of more than 100 riders the final had been whittled down to the 27 starters on Monday afternoon.

Whether it was the pressure they were riding under or the technical questions being asked of them, the first round this afternoon certainly caught a few out including Ava who picked up four penalties at the third obstacle when a top pole lowered.

This saw Ava slide down the scoreboard along with Wachman who had been sitting in pole position overnight when he also picked up four penalties.

This saw both Ava and Tom come forward to the second round of the final with less than a single point between themselves and the two Belgium riders Tristan and Aurelia Guisson making it a highly charged four-way battle.

With both Belgium riders posting a clear, there was no option at all for error when Ava entered the arena as the penultimate rider with just Wachman to follow.

Jumping an outstanding clear, she broke the finish line knowing she had done enough to secure a gold medal and it must have been a nail-biting wait whilst she watched Tom jump to see whether she was able to climb up another notch and take Gold.

Silence fell around the arena as Tom set off, but an early fence down saw him have to add another four penalties to his score and fall outside of the medal positions, leaving Ava to scoop gold.