EQUESTRIAN AND THE OLYMPICS
BY SARAH MARINOS
Australian teams have performed with distinction in the modern era of Olympic history. Here we turn the spotlight on the equestrian events and the competitors who have achieved success. In 1956, the world came to Melbourne. More than 3000 competitors from far-flung parts of the globe converged on the city to take part in the Games of the XVI Olympiad. They were an Olympics of firsts. The 1956 Olympics were the first time the event was held outside Europe or North America, and they were the first Games held in the Southern Hemisphere. They were also the first Olympics with live television broadcasts that brought the events into Australian lounge rooms. And they were the first Games in which athletes united to walk together as part of the official closing ceremony. The Melbourne Olympics were also a first in another respect. By the time the opening ceremony unfolded on Thursday 22 November, and by the time Australian athlete Ron Clarke lit the cauldron, one of the sports had already been completed. Because of Australia’s strict quarantine laws, the equestrian events had to be held in another country, and so they took place in Stockholm, Sweden, five months before the official Games began. The Australian team narrowly missed out on medals that time around, the team placing fourth. At the following Olympics in Rome in 1960, the Australians struck gold – literally. Since then Australia has built on its equestrian successes, particularly in eventing. Australia’s first equestrian team left Melbourne in January 1955 for the six- week journey to England. Only 15 months before the competition, none of the eventing team – David Wood, Brian Crago, Ernie Barker, Bert Jacobs, John Winchester and Wyatt Thompson – had performed dressage before their selection or had experience in three-day eventing In fact, their only event before the Olympics in Stockholm was to qualify at the prestigious Badminton Horse Trials in England. Finishing fourth in the Olympics was a surprise achievement. “For a country which never before competed in Olympic equestrian events, Australia’s effort was remarkable,” wrote The Daily Telegraph in Sydney. “It will enhance Australia’s reputation for horsemanship throughout the world.” Wyatt (Bunty) Thompson, who grew up in the New South Wales highlands on his family’s sheep and cattle property, later recalled his pride in riding into the stadium in Stockholm as part of that Olympic team.
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