Australia and Olympic Equestrian

All of Australia’s 10 Olympic medals have been won in eventing. The first Australian medals were won in the three-day event in Rome in 1960 with Laurie Morgan and Neale Lavis winning the gold and silver medals respectively in the individual contest and then being joined by an injured Bill Roycroft to win the team event.

Barcelona in 1992 saw Matt Ryan win the individual gold medal in the three-day event and with Andrew Hoy, Gillian Rolton win the team competition. The three-day team competition was won again in Atlanta in 1996 (Wendy Schaeffer, Andrew Hoy, Phillip Dutton & Gillian Rolton) and in Sydney in 2000 (Matt Ryan, Andrew Hoy, Phillip Dutton & Stuart Tinney). Andrew Hoy also won the silver medal in the individual event in Sydney.

Hoy was part of a gold-medal winning three-day event team for three Olympics in succession. He has competed at six Olympics and carried the flag in the Opening Ceremony in Atlanta. He was also selected in the equestrian squad for Moscow 1980 but the sport was withdrawn from the Australian team that eventually competed in the Olympics.

Australia has not won a medal in Olympic jumping nor dressage events with the best performance being a fourth by Thomas Fahey in the grand prix jumping in Tokyo in 1964.

Olympic History

Equestrian events were included in the modern Olympic Games for the first time in Paris in 1900 and then again in Stockholm in 1912. The format has changed very little over the years. In the past, the three-day event (Eventing) was restricted to military officers, while the Jumping and Dressage competitions were open to civilians, but only a handful of civilian riders competed up to London 1948.

Equestrian is the only Olympic sport where man and animal are established teammates, and one of the few where men and women compete on equal terms.

Gold Medal Winners from the Past Three Olympic Games

Individual Eventing
Atlanta 1996 - Blyth TAIT [Ready Teddy] (NZL)
Sydney 2000 - David O'CONNOR [Custom Made] (USA)
Athens 2004 - Leslie LAW [Shear L'Eau] (GBR)

Individual Dressage
Atlanta 1996 - Isabell Werth [Gigolo] (GER)
Sydney 2000 - Anky VAN GRUNSEN [Bonfire] (NED)
Athens 2004 - Anky VAN GRUNSEN [Salinero] (NED)

Individual Jumping
Atlanta 1996 - Ulrich KERCHOFF [Jus de Pommes] (GER)
Sydney 2000 - Jeroen DUBBELDAM [Sjiem] (NED)
Athens 2004 - Rodrigo Pessoa [Baloubet du Rouet] (BRA)

Team Eventing
Atlanta 1996 - AUSTRALIA
Sydney 2000 - AUSTRALIA
Athens 2004 - FRANCE

Team Dressage
Atlanta 1996 - GERMANY
Sydney 2000 - GERMANY
Athens 2004 - GERMANY

Team Jumping
Atlanta 1996 - GERMANY
Sydney 2000 - GERMANY
Athens 2004 - GERMANY