EQUESTRIAN AND THE OLYMPICS
“The feeling from each Olympics changes because as you get older you value things more – you value the results, you value the opportunities and you value life more,” he said. “The goal is to be successful and produce a world-class performance.” Women have also been an integral part of Australia’s eventing history. Gillian Rolton was the first woman to win gold, riding Peppermint Grove at the Barcelona Olympics, a feat she repeated again at the next Olympics in Atlanta. In Atlanta, Sonja Johnson overcame significant hurdles to win a silver medal and was listed for the 2000 and 2004 Olympics, but injuries prevented her from competing. The determined Johnson finally made the Olympic opening ceremony in Beijing in 2008. Mary Hanna, set to appear at Tokyo, has appeared in five Olympics Games. Husband-and-wife team Lucinda and Clayton Fredericks have also enjoyed Olympic success. Theywon silver in Beijing and placed sixth in London in 2012. Australian talent was on display in the equestrian arena at 2016’s Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Scott Keach, who began riding on sheep and cattle farms inWestern Australia and first competed at the Seoul Olympics in 1988, found himself in Rio 28 years later at the age of 51. Edwina Tops-Alexander continues to represent her home country and will be at Tokyo riding in show jumping. She was crowned Australia’s Best Junior at the Australian Young Rider Championships in 1995 and by 2011 was the top- ranked female rider in the world. Tops-Alexander has represented Australia in the Olympics on three occasions: in Beijing in 2008, London in 2012, and Rio de Janeiro in 2016, and she has accumulated two top ten placings from her Olympic appearances. With bronze at Rio for the eventing team comprising of Shane Rose, Stuart Tinney, Sam Griffiths and Chris Burton, we will be hoping for success once again for the sport with such a rich history, and hopefully many more Olympic medals to come.
Racing’s link
The racing and equestrian worlds overlap in many ways.
Shane Rose, part of this year’s eventing team, not only won a silver medal in Beijing in 2008 the brilliant off-the-track thoroughbred All Luck, but is also one of Australian racing’s premier horseman. At Bimbadeen Part he educates young horses, and offers spelling and pre-training, often with great success. Among his students are colts Capitalist and Hellbent, as well as fillies September Run, Funstar and Egg Tart.
Made with FlippingBook Digital Publishing Software