Equestrianism at the 1972 München Summer Games: Mixed Three-Day Event, Individual | Olympics at Sports-Reference.com Equestrianism at the 1972 München Summer Games: Mixed Three-Day Event, Individual Host City: München, West Germany Venue(s): Military Lands Poing, Poing; Riding Stadium, Riem, München Date Started: August 29, 1972 Date Finished: September 1, 1972 Format: Dressage, cross-country, and jumping. Gold: Jan Jönsson Summary At the 1964 Olympics, Britain's [Richard Meade] led the individual eventing after the endurance phase, but 36 faults in the jumping dropped him back to eighth place. He then placed fourth in the eventing at the 1968 Olympics, although he helped Britain to team gold. In München Meade took the lead after the endurance phase and this time rode a clean round in jumping to finally win his individual gold medal. He also helped Great Britain defend their gold medal in the team event.

There was no change in the top standings after the endurance phase, as Argentine [Alessandro Argenton] was second, Sweden's [Jan Jönsson] was third, and British rider [Mary Gordon-Watson] was fourth. As did Meade, all three had clean rides in jumping, and maintained their positions. Meade would return in 1976 and again placed fourth individually, and also competed for Britain at the 1980 Alternative Equestrian Event at Fontainebleau, Paris. Outside of the Olympics, Meade was a member of the winning team at the 1967 European Championships and the 1970 World Championships and placed second individually in the 1967 and 1970 World Championships. He also won at Badminton in 1969, 1970, and 1982, and won the Burghley Horse Trials in 1964.

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Part of the Richard Meade: Britain's most successful Olympic equestrian, a towering presence in the world of eventing for two decades | The Independent Richard Meade: Britain's most successful Olympic equestrian, a towering presence in the world of eventing for two decades Meade was briefly linked romantically with Princess Anne, but she eventually married their Munich team-mate Mark Phillips Tuesday 13 January 2015 19:27 BST Click to follow The Independent Online Meade in 1974: 'His results far exceeded the innate ability of many of the horses he rode' Getty Richard Meade was this country's most successful Olympic equestrian and the first British rider to win an individual Olympic title, which he did at the 1972 Munich Olympics. With his dashing good looks and golden locks he was a linchpin of the British three-day event team for 21 years. In individual and team events he won three Olympic golds as well as five golds, three silvers and two bronzes at the world and European championships. It is a testimony to his skill that he had such longevity in such a physically demanding sport and succeeded on so many different horses.

"Richard, at the height of his powers, towered over the eventing world," the British Eventing chairman Hugh Thomas said. "His results far exceeded the innate ability of many of the horses he rode, and he was at his very best when riding at the major events and championships." Meade competed in four successive Olympics, carrying the British flag in the closing ceremony at Munich, as well as at Fontainebleau, France, in 1980, the substitute event held in the wake of the Moscow boycott that year. He won the Badminton Horse Trials in 1970 and 1982 and the Burghley Horse Trials once. He also served as president of the British Equestrian Federation and chairman of the British Horse Society. Following his two Olympic golds in Munich, he was voted 1972 BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year and came third in the BBC Sports Personality of the Year, while being part of the team that won the Team of the Year award. He was also awarded the British Equestrian Federation's medal of honour.

In retirement he recognised that Britain had a somewhat haphazard approach to breeding sports horses, especially when the increasing technical demands of show jumping and dressage started to favour the "warmbloods" of continental Europe, whose breeding had been refined over generations of encouragement and state subsidy. So in 1991 he co-founded the British Horse Foundation, aiming to apply some of these principles and deter indiscriminate breeding; he remained chairman of its trustees until his death. Born in Chepstow, Monmouthshire in 1938, he came from an equestrian family. His parents, John and Phyllis (née Watts) were joint masters of the Curre Hounds at Itton. Meade started riding at the age of seven, going on hunts with his parents. He was inspired by his fellow Welshman Sir Harry Llewellyn, who was a member of the GB show-jumping team that won gold at the 1950 Helsinki Olympics; he mentored Meade in his early career and lent him a horse on which he won his first cup, at the Pony Club Championships in 1954.

Meade was schooled at Lancing College before reading engineering at Magdalene College, Cambridge, where he was also a member of the Hawks' Club. After completing his National Service with the 11th Hussars he was a freelance racing correspondent for The Times, and then worked for the merchant bankers Antony Gibbs & Sons before turning his full-time attention to equestrianism. Meade first gained recognition at Burghley on Barberry in 1964 after winning the three-day event, which combines dressage, cross-country and show-jumping; they were subsequently chosen for the Tokyo Olympics, where he debuted as a three-day eventer, finishing eighth, best-placed of the British riders. Four years later in Mexico his clear round on Cornishman, following a tropical downpour in the final show-jumping stage, secured the team title. "A violent tropical storm nearly caused abandonment of the competition," he recalled. "Four and a half inches of rain fell in just over an hour. However, we survived it all, and that made winning all the more exciting." He felt Mexico was his greatest Olympic memory, and the Mexicans his favourite hosts.

"The events didn't necessarily start on time but when they did hats were flung into the air, music rang out and voices cheered - for sheer enjoyment no Olympics have bettered Mexico." As Meade's experience grew so did his standing in the British team. His cool head meant that he was often selected to go last in team events when the pressure was at its most intense. His greatest triumph came in Munich in 1972: he jumped two faultless rounds Laurieston and helped Britain retain the title, as well as winning Britain's first individual equestrian gold; his individual clear round earned him a standing ovation from the crowd of 28,000. Meade was briefly linked romantically with Princess Anne, but she eventually married their Munich team-mate Mark Phillips. His last Olympics were in Montreal in 1976, where he finished fourth individually. After the partial boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics he was not selected in 1984. When he retired he was sixth on the list of Britain's most successful Olympians; he currently stands joint 11th.

In retirement his projects included a property company, but above all he trained horses and mentored young riders: "You start a new career every time you begin with a new young horse," he remarked. His son Harry became a British event rider, winning a team silver in last year's World Equestrian Games. Meade was also an FEI judge and cross-country course designer, and a respected judge of show hunters. Described by the British Horse Society president as "probably the best competitive rider we've ever seen", he died of cancer after being diagnosed last October. Richard John Hannay Meade, horse rider and trainer: born Chepstow, Monmouthshire 4 December 1938; OBE 1974; married 1977 Angela Farquhar (one daughter, two sons, and one son deceased); died West Littleton, Gloucestershire 8 January 2015. British Olympic Gold Medallists 1896-2014 | Equestrianism 13 32 Reiner Klimke (Germany & West Germany) won a record six equstrian gold medals between 1964 and 1988.

All were in dressage - five team golds and one individual. He also won two bronze medals and his total of eight is an equestrian record shared with fellow German Isabell Werth who won five dressage gold medals and three silvers between 1992 and 2008. The 1956 Summer Olympics were held in Melbourne, Australia between 22 November and 8 December. However, the equestrian events were held in Stockholm, Sweden five months earlier due to quarantine restrictions in Australia at the time. The most successful equestrian nation is the United States with 49 medals (11 gold, 20 silver, 18 bronze). Germany, with 23 have won the most gold medals. If you take the combined total of Germany and West Germany they have amassed 71 medals in total) EQUESTRIANISM Equestrianism was introduced into the Olympic programme at Paris in 1900 but was not seen again until Stockholm in 1912 when the present-day disciplines of dressage, show jumping and three day eventing were first seen. All except dressage had team and individual competitions.

The team dressage was not seen until 1928. Equestrianism is one of the few Olympic sports where men and women compete together on equal terms. Great Britain first competed in 1912 then in 1924 and at every Games since 1936 with the exception of the boycotted Moscow Olympics of 1980. Britain did not win her first medal until 1936 when their three man team of Alec Scott, Richard Fanshawe and Edward Howard-Vyse won the bronze medal in the three day event. Their first gold medal was won by Wilf White, Duggie Stewart and Harry Llewellyn in the team show jumping at Helsinki in 1952.

Britain's Gold Medallist: Born: 9 January 1914, Chelsea, London, England Died: 24 April 2000, Norwich, Norfolk, England Olympics Competed In: 1 (1968) Olympic Medals: 1968 Gold - Equestrian (Team eventing) 1968 Silver - Equestrian (Individual eventing) Major Derek Allhusen was aged 54 when he won his Olympic gold medal as part of the British three day eventing team at the 1968 Mexico Olympics, along with Richard Meade, Jane Bullen and Ben Jones. Riding his horse Lochinvar, an Irish-bred horse he bought in 1961, Allhusen also won the silver medal in the individual competition. The conditions were the worst ever known for an Olympic eventing competition, and the rider out on the course before Allhusen lost his horse when it drowned in a flooded ditch following a fall.

Prior to the Olympics, there was pressure on the selectors to make Allhusen the non-riding team captain because of his age, but it was felt that due to the adverse conditions, his experience would help the team, and how right they were proved. Allhusen was awarded an MBE for his achievements in 1968, but turned it down due to his belief that his teammates, Meade, Bullen and Jones, were equally deserving. Allhusen's path to glory on Lochinvar started in Italy in 1944 when he was a member of the 9th Lancers, of which he eventually became second in command, and was awarded the American Star in 1944. The Lancers had pushed the Germans northwards and their only escape was by swimming across the river Po. To do so, they abandoned their horses. The Lancers retrieved the horses but nobody wanted them, except Allhusen, who took a fancy to a mare which he bought for £27. He named her after his favourite waitress in a Rome nightclub. Lara was to be the mare upon which the dynasty of horses that became part of the Allhusen stable over the years.

She was mated with Davy Jones, the unlucky loser of the 1936 Grand National who was leading at the second from last fence when his reins broke and he ran out, and they produced Laurien, on whom Allhusen won the first of his three European Championships in 1957. One of Laurien's foals was Laurieston who Allhusen lent to the British team for the 1972 Munich Olympics and Richard Meade rode him to victory in the individual and team competition. Perhaps surprisingly, Derek Allhusen did not take to riding horses until the age of 18. Throughout his teenage years he was dogged by injury and at 15 contracted tuberculosis and had to leave Eton and went to Switzerland to be educated at Montreaux. The drier climate enabled him to make a full recovery and whilst in Switzerland he took up winter sports and at the 1948 St Moritz Winter Olympics he was part of the British team that entered the Winter Pentathlon, which was a demonstration sport. Allhusen finished sixth overall and in his best event, the horse riding, he finished third aboard Laura.

Allhusen retired from the Army in 1949 and he began farming 1500 acres in Norfolk and he was the Deputy Lieutenant for Norfolk for 18 years. He was appointed CVO (Commander of the Royal Victorian Order) in 1984, 15 years after he declined an MBE. The President of British Horse Society in 1987-88, Major Derek Allhusen died on Easter Monday 2000. Born: 31 January 1985, Mainz, Germany Olympics Competed In: 2 (2008, 2012) Olympic Medals: 2012 Gold - Equestrian (Team dressage) 2012 Bronze - Equestrian (Individual dressage) Laura was born into a wealthy German family who moved to England when she was just one year old. She started riding when she was three and initially was keen on jumping but turned her attention to eventing where she had more success. However, in her teens she concentrated on dressage and at the age of 14 won a team silver medal at the Pony European Championships.

Laura was trained by her father Willfried, who is known as 'Dr.B' in the dressage fraternity. He represented Britain at the 1995 European Dressage Championships in Luxembourg. Laura was the British dressage champion at the age of 20 and in 2007 graduated from Bristol University with a Bsc in philosophy and Politics. She also made her senior team debut in 2007 aboard Mistral Højris - a horse she called 'Alf'. Laura and 'Alf' competed at the Beijing Olympics and finished 17th in the individual dressage and fifth in the team event. She won a team silver and individual bronze medal at the 2009 European Championships. She then won three silver medals at the 2010 World Championships in Kentucky and at the European Championships at Rotterdam the following year she won her first senior major title in the team dressage. She was also the individual bronze medallist. But the following year at the London Olympics she won team gold with Carl Hester and Charlotte Dujardin and finished third behind Dujardin in the individual event.

All her European, World and Olympic medals were been aboard her beloved 'Alf', who retired in 2013. She was awarded the MBE in the 2013 New Year Honours list and a couple of months later she married professional polo player Mark Tomlinson. Laura's father Willfried is the son-in-law of Karl Heinz-Kipp who founded the famous German Massa clothing company in 1948 which later became a chain of stores. He sold the business in 1985 but retained the freehold of all the premises. Karl's personal fortune was valued in the 2010 Forbes List at more than $5 billion.

Born: 7 January 1948, Catherston, near Charmouth, Dorset, England Olympics Competed In: 1 (1968) Olympic Medals: 1968 Gold - Equestrian (Team eventing) 1968 Silver - Equestrian (Individual eventing) Jane Bullen made her own piece of Olympic history in 1968 when she became the first woman to represent Britain in the three day event, and being on the team that won the gold medal she created further history as the first woman in Olympic history to win an eventing gold. Jane comes from a famous equestrian family. Her father Jack was a lieutenant with the Royal Horse Artillery and her mother Ann bred and trained ponies and was also a well known and respected writer and illustrator of children's pony stories. With having five children she had plenty of critics to review her work! Jane, and brother Michael and sister Jennie, appeared in seven Olympic Games between 1960 and 1988. Surprisingly, no two of them appeared together in the same Games. Jane was the only one of the three to win a medal.

After leaving school Jane went to the Middlesex Hospital where she trained as a State Registered Nurse. In 1968, on her own horse Our Nobby she won the Badminton Horse Trials at the age of 20. It is reported that she worked a night shift at the hospital the night before her triumph. A few months later she teamed up with Derek Allhusen, Richard Meade and Ben Jones and again riding Our Nobby, she helped the quartet secure gold. Jane, who finished 18th in the individual competition, was still training at the Middlesex Hospital at the time of her Olympic triumph and earned the nickname 'The Galloping Nurse'. In 1974 she married Tim Holdernerness-Roddam and in 1976, riding Warrior, she won the Burghley horse trials. The next year she won a team gold at the European Championships and in 1978 Jane won Badminton for a second time. Jane retired from eventing in the mid-1990s, but remained involved with the sport as Chairman of British Eventing from 1999 to 2004.

She was involved with judging and various other aspects of the sport including horse and pony well-being. She has written more than 25 books about the sport and horses. She was appointed an LVO (Lieutenant of the Royal Victoria Order) in 1998 and was awarded the CBE in the 2004 Birthday Honours List. She also received the Queen's Award for Equestrianism in 2009. Jane used to compete with HRH Princess Anne and her husband Mark Phillips and was a personal friend of the couple and is their son Peter's godmother. Jane appeared in the film International Velvet as Tatum O'Neill's stunt double. Jane and husband Tim opened the West Kington Stud farm, in Wiltshire in the early 1990s shortly before Jane's retirement from competitive eventing.

Born: 13 July 1985, Enfield, London Olympics Competed In: 1 (2012) Olympic Medals: 2012 Gold - Dressage (Individual) 2012 Gold - Dressage (Team) Although she was born in Enfield, North London, Charlotte Dujardin was brought up in Hertfordshire and rode her first pony at the age of two, and at just three and a half years of age she came second in her first show pony event! She openly admits that as a youngster, schooling was low on her priorities and 'bunking off' was a regular occurrence so she could go horse riding. By the time she was 16 she had won four times at the Horse of the Year Show and had three times been a winner at Hickstead. She achieved her success with the full support and backing of her family but when trainer Debbie Thomas came into Charlotte's life she encouraged her to turn her attention from showing to dressage. In 2007 she had some lessons with Carl Hester and, spotting her talent, he invited her to work as a groom at his yard in Gloucestershire.

She was asked to look after a gelding called Valegro (stable name Blueberry) which Hester intended riding for himself but Dujardin and the horse formed such a good partnership that they stayed together and won the team gold at the 2011 European Dreassage Championship in Rotterdam. Not surprisingly, Charlotte and her horse were selected for the 2012 Olympics and she was part of the first ever British team to win a dressage medal of any colour when Carl Hester, Laura Bechtolsheimer and Charlotte won the team gold medal. It was the first time since 1972 that a German team had not won the team dressage gold - with the exception of 1980 when they did not enter the Moscow Olympics. Two days after her team gold, accompanied by music including Land of Hope and Glory, The Great Escape and the chimes of Big Ben, Charlotte made it an amazing double when she won the individual gold, with team-mate Laura Bechtolsheimer taking the bronze medal. Charlotte was awarded the OBE in the 2013 New Year Honours list and went on to win two individual gold medals at the European Championships in Denmark later in the year.

The British team could not retain their title but had to settle for the bronze medal. Born: 3 April 1948, Blandford, Dorset, England Olympics Competed In: 1 (1972) Olympic Medals: 1972 Gold - Equestrian (Team eventing) The daughter of Brigadier Gordon-Watson, MC, OBE, it was on one of her father's horses that Mary enjoyed all her major three day eventing successes. The horse, Cornishman V, was bought by her father for £500 in 1963 when he was a four-year-old (the horse, not h father!). He was originally used as a hunter and point-to-point horse but Mary soon established a relationship with him and the British selection committee wanted the pair of them to go to the 1968 Mexico Olympics. Sadly, a fall from him at an insignificant first fence during the Royal International Horse Show resulted in Mary breaking a leg and the horse was subsequently ridden by Richard Meade at the Olympics instead, and the pair came home from Mexico as gold medalists after Great Britain won the team title.

Once recovered, Mary renewed her partnership with Cornishman and they made their first of five Badminton appearances in 1969 it was also the year that Mary won her first major title when she won the individual European Championship gold medal. At the World Championships at Punchestown the following year Mary became a double gold-medallist by winning both the individual and team titles - the latter with Richard Meade and Mark Philips. Mary won a second European gold medal in 1971 as a member of the British team that took the title and at the Munich Olympics the following year, Cornishman won his second team gold medal, but this time with Mary in the saddle. The pair also finished fourth in the individual competition Cornishman retired from eventing in 1973 but returned to hunting and pursued a new career in ... the movies! He appeared in the film Dead Cert, based on the Dick Francis thriller, in 1974 and also in the 1978 movie International Velvet. Cornishman died in 1986 aged 27.

After retiring in the mid-1970s, Mary became an established equestrian teacher and was also a member of the British equestrian selection committee. For her services to her sport she was awarded the MBE. Born: 29 June 1967, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England Olympics Competed In: 4 (1992, 2000, 2004, 2012) Olympic Medals: 2012 Gold - Equestrian (Team dressage) Twenty years after making his Olympic debut Carl Hester must have been wondering if that Olympic medal was going to elude him when he took part in his fourth Games in 2012.. In his three previous Games, a seventh place in the team competition had been his best result but, with Laura Bechtolsheimer and Charlotte Dujardin they beat their rivals into second place to capture that much sought after medal - and it turned out to be gold.

Sadly, Carl could not match his two female team-mates and win a second medal in the individual event having to settle for a personal best fifth place, Although born in North London, Carl moved to the Channel Island of Sark when he was four. The island had no cars so horses were a way of life, and a mode of transport. Naturally, Carl soon learned to ride at an early age and his first form of transport was a donkey called Jacko that he used to ride to the village shop to collect groceries. Horses and carriages were popular with tourists in the summer month and Carl earned some extra pocket money taking them around the island. With little opportunity of permanent work on Sark, Carl left at the age of 16 after finding a job advertised in Horse and Hound. It involved working at the Fortune Centre of Riding Therapy in Christchurch, Dorset. It was where adults with learning and physical difficulties could go to enjoy the freedom of horse riding. Originally Carl wanted to be an eventer but he switched to dressage and it was on one of the Fortune Centre's horses Jolly Dolly that he won the 1985 Young Dressage Championship.

Carl's career received a major boost when he went to work at Dr Bechtolsheimer's yard in 1989 and he had the opportunity to ride high calibre horses for the first time. Dr. B was the father of the young Laura Bechtolsheimer who would became Carl's gold medal winning team-mate at London 2012. Wwhilst with Dr.B he went to his first World Championships in 1990, the Europeans in 1991 and then in 1992 he became the youngest Briton to compete in the dressage at the Olympics. He stayed with Dr.B for three years and then went into partnership with Kate Carter before opening his own Gloucestershire yard in 2004. Carl made his second Olympic appearance in 2000 at Sydney and at Athens in 2004 he appeared in his third Games.

His horses were not ready for the 2008 Beijing Games but in 2009 he won his first major medal when he won team silver at the European Championships at Windsor and he also won team silver at the 2010 World Equestrian Games But 2011 would be Carl's best season prior to his 2012 Olympic triumph when, with his now famous Olympic-winning female partners, Charlotte Dujardin and Laura Bechtolsheimer, the three of them won the European Championships gold medal and Carl took home two individual silver medals. As acknowledgement of his outstanding year in 2011 The Briitsh Olympic Association named Carl as the Equestrian Athlete of the Year. Following his 2012 Olympic triumph Carl was honoured with the MBE in the 2013 New Year Honours list. Also in 2013 he won a bronze medal in the team event at the European Championships and in September he won his 66th national dressage championship aboard Fine Time at Stoneleigh, Warwickshire.

Born: 7 February 1927, Swimbridge, Devon, England Died: 5 August 2005, South Molton, Devon, England Olympics Competed In: 3 (1952, 1956, 1960) Olympic Medals: 1956 Gold - Equestrian (Team eventing) Bertie Hill was a great natural horseman and had the honour of representing the British eventing team at three consecutive Olympics and at Stockholm in 1956 Laurence Rook, Frank Weldon and Hill won a team gold medal. Bertie rode the Queen's horse Countryman III. Hill bought Countryman off a dealer who reckoned the horse was 'unrideable'. But Hill knew his way around a difficult horse better than most and he ironed out the problems. He sold the horse to a syndicate led by the Queen but kept custody of Countryman and also retained the right to ride him. Hill was born at Birch Farm, Swimbridge on Exmoor, and spent his entire life in the area. He first started hunting with the Devon and Somerset Staghounds at the age of four.

When he started school a year later he rode his pony 'Joe' the three miles to school each day. When he moved on to the 'big school' it meant taking short cuts across farmers' land but, whilst it annoyed the farmers, it improved Bertie's jumping skills! Bertie left school at 15 to work in his father's farm during the war. After the war he was in demand as an amateur jockey in point-to-point races. But he soon attracted attention from Tony Collings, the owner of the Porlock Vale Riding School. Collings had been asked to put together a British three day eventing team for the 1952 Olympics and Hill made the team. Riding Stella, he was the highest placed Briton in seventh place in the individual event. The following year he won the first of three consecutive European Eventing Championship team gold medals and in 1954 Bertie made it a team and individual double. Sadly, Collings would not get another chance to put an Olympic team together again because he lost his life in April 1954 when the Comet aircraft he was traveling on crashed into the Mediterranean off the coat of Italy.

Bertie appeared in his third successive Olympics at Rome in 1960 but he could not emulate his gold medal winning performance of four years earlier and finished fourth in the team event riding Wild Venture. The British team missed out on a bronze medal by less than one point. In the early 1960s Bertie and his wife Mary started the Rapscott School of Equitation at their Exmoor farm. Bertie turned out to be an excellent instructor and he was asked to train the British eventing team for the 1968 Olympics when he produced the gold medal winning team and the individual silver medalist in Derek Allhusen. In later years, both Princess Anne and Mark Phillips were students at Rapscott. As a yongster Bertie won many point-to-point races and had a brief flirtation with National Hunt racing and enjoyed a couple of wins at Wincanton. His daughter Sarah married the well known race horse trainer Philip Hobbs, who trained 2003 Champion Hurdle winner Rooster Booster, while son Tony was a member of the junior British eventing team and was also a successful point-to-point jockey.

He carried on the business at Rapscott after his father's death in 2005. Born: 19 October 1932, Newport, Shropshire, England Died: 3 January 1990, Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, England Olympics Competed In: 2 (1964, 1968) Olympic Medals: 1968 Gold - Equestrian (Team eventing) After an unsuccessful Olympic debut in 1964, Ben Jones finished fifth on The Poacher in the individual three day event competition at the 1968 Mexico Olympics. And with members of the British team occupying three of the first five individual places it is no surprise that they won the team gold medal. Ben's team-mates that day were Derek Allhusen, Richard Meade and Jane Bullen. Ben had previously been a member of the gold medal winning British team at the European Eventing Championships at Punchestown, Ireland in 1967, and was also in the team that retained their title in France two years later.

The son of Shropshire fish and chip shop proprietors, Ben always had ambitions to become a jockey but grew too tall so he decided to join the Army and work with horses which he did whilst serving with the Royal Horse Artillery and the Royal Army Veterinary Corps. He eventually became the Equitation Officer in charge of training at the RAVC Remount Depot in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire. Shortly after leaving the Army Ben was killed in a tragic accident whilst schooling a young horse at Melton in 1990. Born: 5 May 1965, Hereford, Herefordshire, England Olympics Competed In: 2 (2000, 2004) Olympic Medals: 2000 Silver - Equestrian (Team eventing) 2004 Gold - Equestrian (Individual eventing) 2004 Silver - Equestrian (Team eventing) Leslie Law started horse riding at the age of 10 so he could compete with his brother Graham, who also became a successful three day eventer.

The two brothers dispelled the myth that you had to come from a privileged background to be successful at equestrianism because they grew up in a council house. At Athens in 2004 Leslie was the first Briton since Richard Meade in 1972 to win the individual Olympic three day event gold medal. But the event was not without its controversies. Bettina Hoy of Germany had an illegal start, crossing the start line twice before one of the jumping rounds, and was penalized 14 points. But those points were later rescinded and at the end of the two rounds of jumping, Hoy was in the gold medal position with Leslie Law in second place after two faultless rounds on his horse Shear L'Eau. However, two days after the competition the British, French and American teams put in appeals and after a two and a half hour meeting at the Holiday Inn, Athens, the Council of Arbitration for Sport ruled that that the penalty imposed on Hoy should stand and she was relegated to ninth place with Law being promoted into the gold medal position and fellow Briton Pippa Funnell moving up to take the bronze medal. It also elevated the British team to the silver medal position.

Law learned of his gold medal by telephone while taking part in a novice horse trials event at Solihull near Birmingham. In comparison, Hoy was informed that she had lost her gold medal by a pilot aboard her Lufthansa flight back to Germany from Athens. Leslie was presented with his gold medal by the Princess Royal while attending a reception at Buckingham Palace for the 2004 British Olympic medalists two months after he should have stood on the winners podium in Athens. Law won his first Olympic medal, a team silver in 2000 when he rode Shear H20, a full brother of Shear L'eau. The pair teamed up again to be part of the British team that won the 2001 European Championships at Pau, in France and at Jerez in Spain the following year they won a bronze medal at the World Championships. A second European team gold came in 2003 but this time Law rode Shear L'eau, and the year after their Olympic triumph it was a third successive gold medal when Law and Shear L'eau won another European team gold in 2005.

Awarded the MBE in the 2005 New Year Honours list, Leslie announced in November that year that he was moving to the United States. In America he continued to enjoy success as a rider but also he earned a reputation as a well respected trainer and with his wife Lesley Grant, a Canadian three day eventer, they established Law Eventing with bases in Florida and Virginia. Leslie and Lesley got married on the beach on the Caribbean island of Aruba in December 2007. Born: 18 July 1911, Aberdare, Glamorgan, Wales Died: 15 November 1999, Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, Wales Olympics Competed In: 2 (1948, 1952) Olympic Medals: 1948 Bronze - Equestrian (Team jumping) 1952 Gold - Equestrian (Team jumping) Probably the best known horse and rider combination in the history of British show jumping is that of Foxhunter and Harry Llewellyn.

The pair started jumping together after Llewellyn bought the six-year-old bay gelding for £1,500 in 1947. And between then and 1955 when Foxhunter was retired, they won 78 international competitions, including the King George V Gold Cup three times, a bronze medal at the 1948 Olympics and team gold in 1952. Harry was the son of Sir David Llewellyn, a South Wales colliery owner. Like his older brother, Harry was educated at Oundle and then Cambridge University. After graduating he followed his father into the coal industry and also followed his father's love of horses. Before he turned his attention to serious show jumping, Llewellyn was a National Hunt jockey and between 1931 and his last race at Fontwell Park in March 1949, he won 60 races. His most outstanding performance was on Ego on his debut in the Grand National in 1936 when he finished second to the legendary Reynoldstown, who won the race for the second time. Ego and Llewellyn started the 1937 race as favourites but could only finish fourth.

The war years then intervened and Llewellyn served with the Warwickshire Yeomanry, taking part in many campaigns across Europe and Africa and in 1942 he joined General Montgomery's staff until the end of the War, and spent a lot of his time at the Eight Army Headquarters. He rose to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. He was twice mentioned in Dispatches, was honoured with the OBE in 1944 and also received the US Legion of Merit. After the war Llewellyn had some show jumping success on his horse Kilgeddin but it was after he bought Foxhunter that Llewellyn's fortunes turned around and in 1948, while he was still racing under National Hunt rules, he and Foxhunter won a bronze medal in the Olympic Games on home soil. It was a great performance form a horse who was just seven years of age. Llewellyn and Foxhunter won the first of three King George V Gold Cups at Hickstead in 1948 and the remain the only pairing to win the prestigious event three times. But Llewellyn and Foxhunter saved their best for the 1952 Oltympics in Helsinki.

After the first round Llewellyn had incurred 16.75 faults and the British team were lying in fifth place. Llewellyn admits that both he and his horse were not prepared correctly but after a break in between rounds he turned it all around in dramatic fashion. When Foxhunter came into the arena Llewellyn knew that they could have one fence down and Britain would still manage to secure victory. But Foxhunter sensed the occasion and the pair of them jumped a perfect clear round. The win came on the final day of the Games and the British team of Llewellyn, Wilf White and Duggie Stewart won Britain's first and only gold medal of the 1952 Olympics. Harry had taken four years away from the coal business to concentrate on his show jumping. Foxhunter retired in 1955 and Lewellyn started farming in his beloved Wales. He also set up the successful Revel stud of Welsh Mountain ponies, and because of the post-war nationalization of the coal industry he had to diversify his business interests and developed engineering and brewing interests as well as being one of the founders of Television Wales and West.

He also started a chain of cafés called The Foxhunter Café In addition to his OBE, Harry was honoured with the CBE in 1953 and was Knighted in the 1977 Silver Jubilee Honours list. He was the chairman of the British Show Jumping Association from 1967 to 1969 and from 1976 to 1980 he was President of the British Equestrian Federation. In 1978 on the death of his brother he inherited the family title and became the Third Baron Llewellyn of Bwllfa, Glamorgan - a title which subsequently fell to his famous sons Dai and Roddy Llewellyn. Harry Llewellyn died in 1999 six days before the 40th anniversary of Foxunter's passing, and his ashes were spread over Foxhunter's burial place close to the family home near Abergavenny.

Born: 22 September 1948, Tetbury, Gloucestershire, England Olympics Competed In: 2 (1972, 1988) Olympic Medals: 1972 Gold - Equestrian (Team eventing) 1988 Silver - Equestrian (Team eventing) Captain Mark Phillips was educated at Marlborough College before going to Sandhurst from where he passed out and joined the Queen's Dragoon Guards in 1969. His father also served in the (King's) Dragoon Guards and was awarded the Military Cross (MC). Mark spent nearly nine years in the Army before retiring in 1978. A talented horseman he competed in three-day events with The Beaufort Hunt Pony Club Team for five years in the 1960s. By 1968 he was considered good enough to be selected as a reserve for the British team at the Mexico Olympics. He never made the team but two years later, and riding Chicago, he was a member of the British gold medal winning team at the World Championships at Punchestown.

And the following year, in 1971, he was again in the successful team that won the European Champion ships at Burghley riding Great Ovation. It was on Great Ovation that Mark enjoyed his greatest moment when he was in the British team that won the 1972 Olympic gold medal at Munich along with Richard Meade, Mary Gordon-Watson and Bridget Parker. Phillips won a silver medal at the 1974 World Championships riding Columbus and in 1988 was called up for the British team for the Seoul Olympics and won a silver medal on Cartier. He retired from competitive riding after the 1988 Olympics and turned his attentions to course designing and training. He was responsible for designing the course for the Burghley Horse Trials on many occasions since 1989. Mark won Burghley just once, on Great Ovation in 1973. However, he won Badminton four times, on Great Ovation in 1971 and 1972, on Columbus in 1974 and on Lincoln in 1981.

Mark's first wife Princess Anne was part of the 1976 British eventing team at the Montreal Olympics and their daughter Zara won a silver medal in the British team at the London Olympics in 2012. Her Majesty the Queen bought Gatcombe Park for Ann and Mark and they developed it into a well known eventing course and each August the Festival of British Eventing attracts top class riders from all over the world to the Gloucestershire course. Mark's second wife, Hawaiian-born Sandy Pfleuger, was a member of the US dressage team at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. She had finished second to Mark at Badminton in 1981. She was later a coach to the US dressage team and Mark became the Chef d'Equipe of the United States Eventing Federation. He also became a well respected equestrian journalist. In addition to his military honours, Phillips was honoured with the Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO).

Born: 30 December 1957, Bedworth, Warwickshire, England Olympics Competed In: 6 (1988,1992, 1996, 2004, 2008, 2012) Olympic Medals: 2012 Gold - Equestrian (Team jumping) At the age of 54, Nick Skelton was selected for the British jumping team at the 2012 Olympics and after five previous Olympic appearances without a single medal, he must have thought that his illustrious career was going to end without him winning the sport's ultimate prize. But how wrong he was, because he was the inspiration to the other members of the team; Ben Maher, Scott Brash and Peter Charles, as Skelton jumped five clear rounds out of five on Big Star, including one in the jump-off,to secure the gold medal ahead of Netherlands. It was to be the culmination of a show jumping career that had spanned nearly 40 years, and earned him around £7 million in prizemoney.

He has more than 1,200 wins to his credit including 60 Grand Prix wins and more than 150 appearances for the Great Britain team. He has probably won more events on more different horses than any other person in the sport. Skelton was born at Bedworth in Warwickshire, a little over a mile from the home of the Premier Sheet Metal Company who, ironically, made the 2012 Olympic torches. Nick was brought up with horses as his father served in the Veterinary Corps in the Army and Nick sat on his first horse at 18 months old and started riding when he was three. His first horse was a Welsh mountain pony called Oxo, who lived until he was 39 and died at Nick's Warwickshire home. Nick went to work with Liz and Ted Edgar when he was 14 and in 1974, when only 16, he was part of the Great Britain team that won the silver medal at the Junior European Championships and the following year Nick won another team silver and also the individual gold medal, his first major honour in the sport.

Nick has had some memorable moments throughout his career and one of his first was in setting a British Puissance (high jump) record on Lastic at Olympia in 1978 when the pair of them went over a fence measuring 7 feet 7 and 5/16 th inches. The record still stood at the beginning of 2014. He won a team silver medal at the 1980 Alternative Olympic Games in Rotterdam after the British team boycotted the Moscow Olympics and at the 1982 World Championships he was part of the team that won the bronze medal. His first major senior international title was a team gold medal at the 1985 European Championships. Skelton and the British team repeated the feat in 1987 and 1989 and Nick also won the individual bronze medal on Apollo in 1987. Skelton won the first of three successive Hickstead Derbies on J Nick in 1987 and that hat-trick of wins was regarded by him as his greatest achievement in the sport - until his Olympic triumph in 2012, of course.

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s Nick won five World Championship medals, seven European Championship medals, including three gold, three Hickstead Derby wins, four King George V Gold Cups at the Horse of the Year Show and in 1995 he was the World Cup Final winner on Dollar Girl. However, the career of Nick Skelton looked over in 2001. Riding a horse called Lalique at the Parkgate Show near Chester in September, the pair jumped well for the first five fences but then at the sixth, a triple, Lalique got it wrong and landed on the fence, throwing Nick into the air and he landed on his head. He broke his neck and the initial thought was that he would be paralysed but, after being air-ambulanced to Liverpool, it was revealed that he was not paralysed despite suffering a similar injury to that sustained by actor Christopher Reeve. However, Nick was told his jumping career was over and he announced his retirement in February 2001.

He remained in the sport in various roles but he really wanted to get back into the saddle and compete again and in April 2002 he announced that he was coming out of retirement after a scan showed he was alright to do so. During his retirement Nick bought the Durham Ox public house in Shrewley, Warwickshire and the same week that he announced he was returning to jumping he re-opened the pub after refurbishment. In the year of his return, Nick got back to winning ways with two Grand Prix wins on Arko, both in Portugal. He enjoyed 10 more Grand Prix wins and six Nation's Cup victories before winning both a team and individual bronze medal on Carlo at the 2011 European Championships in Madrid. Twelve months later, and 24 years after his first attempt, Nick Skelton won that elusive Olympic gold medal in the team event at London 2012 and he also came close to gold on Big Star in the individual but a fence down in the final round cost him the chance of a jump-off with the Swiss rider Steve Guerdat. At the age of seven Skelton went to his first Horse of the Year Show and sat on the former Grand National winner Nicolaus Silver.

From that day he wanted to be a National Hunt jockey but it was not to be and it remains one of Nick's disappointments that he never tried the sport, but he follows it very closely thanks to his two sons. His oldest son Dan has established himself as a promising National Hunt trainer, and younger son Harry is an established jockey and won the 2009 Irish Grand National on Niche Market at the age of 19 - the youngest winner of the race. Skelton was honoured with the OBE in the 2012 Birthday Honours list. Born: 30 March 1904, Bickerton, Cheshire, England Died: 21 November 1995, Isle of Man Olympics competed in: 2 (1952, 1956) Olympic medals: 1952 Gold - Equestrian (Team show jumping) 1956 Bronze - Equestrian (Team show jumping) Wilf White was a member of the first British team to win an Olympic equestrian gold medal when White, Duggie Stewart and Harry Llewellyn won the show jumping gold at Helsinki in 1952.

But White could have come away from the Games with two gold medals. In he individual competition his horse Nizefala, one of the greatest horses in show jumping history, was adjudged to have put a foot in one of the water jumps and he was penalized four faults. Team captain Harry Llewellyn thought the decision was wrong but any possibility of an objection was ruled out upon the advice of the Duke of Edinburgh, and it was taken on the chin. White would have been in the gold medal position after the two rounds but, instead, his four points meant he went into a five horse jump-off for the medal positions, and sadly he came fifth. However, at Stockholm four years later White and Nizefela did get their individual medal when they came third. Wilf White was one of eight children and the son of a Cheshire farmer. He left home at 15 and started show jumping mostly in South Wales at the age of 17 on a horse called Desire. He was never given any professional training but he had the natural ability to train and ride horses and soon brought the previously difficult to handle Desire under control.

He returned home and in 1946 acquired the four-year-old Lincolnshire-bred bay gelding Nizefela - whose name came from a gypsy who commented: 'what a nice fella you have there" shortly after White had made the purchase. A great character, the horse was well known for his extravagant kick-back as he cleared each fence. Nizefela and White were partners in 12 British Nations Cup winning teams. White served on the executive committee of the British Show Jumping Association and was a steward at the Royal Show for 21 years. He was awarded the OBE in 1958 for his services to show jumping. He continued the family tradition and became the third generation to run the 60 acre dairy farm at Malpas, Cheshire where they also commercially made cheese. Quietly spoken, White moved to the Isle of Man for his retirement years with his second wife Mary in 1980.

He died there in 1995 but his ashes were taken back to his Cheshire home where Nizefela was buried, and they were were laid to rest together (*) Most sources state his first name is Wilfred but his birth registration shows his name as Wilfrid, as does the 1911 Census Record. Richard Meade obituary | Sport | The Guardian Richard Meade obituary Outstanding British rider who won three Olympic gold medals Richard Meade during the dressage stage of the Olympic eventing team selection trials in 1984. Photograph: Bob Thomas/Getty Images Monday 12 January 2015 12.55 EST Last modified on Thursday 25 August 2016 14.37 EDT Share on Messenger Close Richard Meade, who has died aged 76, was Britain’s most successful Olympic rider, winning three gold medals in three-day eventing during a golden age for equestrian sport. He made his Olympic debut in Tokyo in 1964, finishing best of the British, in eighth place individually, riding Barberry. He did not have to wait long for his first taste of Olympic success.

Four years later, in Mexico City, Meade rode the former point-to-pointer Cornishman V to produce a heroic clear cross-country round in difficult conditions, helping Britain secure team gold in three-day eventing. That year he finished just out of the individual medals – something he would more than redress four years later when winning both team and individual gold with the eight-year-old Laurieston at the Munich Games. Great Britain won only four gold medals at Munich in 1972 – Meade was responsible for half of them. While his fellow equestrian David Broome had been given the honour of carrying the British flag at the opening ceremony, it was Meade who bore the flag during the closing ceremony, in recognition of his medal success. It was a time when equestrianism was at a peak of popularity, when many of the sport’s stars were household names, and the handsome, blond-haired Meade was the poster boy of the era. The press speculated about a romantic link between him and Princess Anne, who had travelled to Munich to watch the competition. Britain’s Olympic gold run did not continue in Montreal in 1976.

While the team had started the three-day eventing as favourites, a taxing cross-country course took its toll and Meade’s team-mates Lucinda Prior-Palmer (now Lucinda Green) and Princess Anne failed to complete, meaning the reigning gold medallists were eliminated. Once again, Meade finished in fourth position, missing out on an individual medal riding Jacob Jones. In total, Meade competed at four Olympic Games , as well as the competition at Fontainebleau, France, in 1980, held as an alternative during the partial boycott of the Moscow Games. He was a mainstay of the British team for more than 21 years, winning two gold and three silver world championship medals to add to his tally. He was also part of the gold medal-winning team at the European championships in 1967, 1971 and 1981, and won team bronzes in 1965 and 1973.

Meade was also among the elite few to win both of Britain’s most prestigious three-day events: he won the Burghley horse trials in 1964 on Barberry; and Badminton in 1970 (The Poacher) and 1982 (Speculator III). His achievements were recognised when he won the BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year title in 1972 – he finished third in the main competition and was part of the Team of the Year that year. He was appointed OBE for services to sport in 1974. Meade was born in Chepstow, Monmouthshire, into a family with strong equestrian links. His parents, John and Phyllis, were joint masters of the Curre hunt, based near Chepstow, and they set up Britain’s first Connemara pony stud. Richard began riding at an early age, and in his teens was given help and support by the Olympic rider Harry Llewellyn . After being educated at Lancing College, West Sussex, and graduating in engineering from Magdalene College, Cambridge, Meade served in the 11th Hussars.

He worked in London before embarking on a career in eventing. In 1977 he married Angela Farquhar, and the couple went on to have four children. Their son Harry became a professional event rider – he finished third at Badminton in 2014 and was part of the silver medal-winning British team at last summer’s World Equestrian Games. While he retired from competitive eventing when his children were young, Meade remained an integral part of the horse world. He served as the president of the British Equestrian Federation and was on the council of the British Horse Society. He was a passionate advocate of improving the breeding of British horses and in 1991 was the co-founder of the British Horse Foundation, serving as its chairman until his death. He continued to be heavily involved with the sport of eventing, serving as a member of the Bureau and Eventing Committee of the International Equestrian Federation as well as becoming a coach, judge and talented course designer – roles that kept him much in demand throughout his lifetime. He was part of the sport’s governing body in the UK (now called British Eventing) for more than three decades. One of Meade’s sons predeceased him.

He is survived by Angela, their two sons, James and Harry, and a daughter, Lucy. • Richard John Hannay Meade, rider and equestrian consultant, born 4 December 1938; died 8 January 2015 Olympics: Mark Todd's ride for a place in history - Sport - NZ Herald News Olympics: Mark Todd's ride for a place in history 11:30 AM Tuesday Jul 31, 2012 SHARE: Olympics New Zealand's Mark Todd, riding Campino, is in line for a possible fifth or even sixth Olympic team. Photo / Mark Mitchell Early tomorrow morning New Zealand equestrian rider Mark Todd will ride off for a shot at his fifth Olympic medal and possible third gold, which will arguably rank him as New Zealand's greatest ever Olympian. After surviving a brush with a bull elephant earlier in the year Todd, competing in a record seventh Olympics, now faces an equally imposing challenge of reaching the heights of New Zealand's most successful Olympians with two more medals up for grabs. Here's a breakdown of when and how New Zealand's first medal of London 2012 could be won.

WHAT: Todd and his horse Campino sit in third place heading into the third and final stage of the three-day eventing, the showjumping. After a third placing in the dressage stage, Todd rode a near-perfect run in the cross country with his only mistake coming on the final jump across the finish line. A mistake-free run would have seen him sit in gold medal position but the one error places him only 0.20 penalty points behind Germany's Ingrid Klimke and Sweden's Sara Algotsson Ostholt who share top spot. With four penalty points for a dropped rail in the showjumping, one mistake from his rivals could see Todd move into gold. Conversely with less than three points separating the top six, a mistake by Todd could see him drop of the medals completely. WHEN: The team section of the showjumping begins at 9.30pm NZT and will end just after midnight. New Zealand currently sit in fourth just behind Sweden, so Todd could have a his fifth Olympic medal before his individual ride begins. From 1.30am the top 25 riders have a second shot at the showjumping course with their scores counting towards the individual medals.

Todd will jump third to last which will be around 2.30am. Continued below. Racing: Trainer under radar at Riccarton RIVALS: Current leader Klimke won gold in the team event with Germany four years ago and finished fifth in the individual event, the same placing she had in Athens in 2004. With Germany leading the team event, Klimke is in line to become the first rider since Britain's Richard Meade in Munich 40 years ago to win two golds in eventing. Algotsson Ostholt is attempting to become the first Swede to win a medal in the individual eventing since 1972. The country's last individual eventing gold was in 1956. The pressure is also on the Swedish team with their drought in the team event going further back to 1952. Fourth placed Michael Jung from Germany is considered one of the best in eventing showjumping and would have a chance to put real pressure on the top three with a clear round. British duo Kristina Cook and Mary King are both less than 3.0 penalty points behind Todd and will have the home crowd on their side.

WHAT'S AT STAKE?: Todd, who was named rider of the 20th Century by equestrian's governing body, could achieve a rare feat of three Olympic gold medals over a span of 28 years. A third gold would put him in a share of second amongst New Zealand's most successful Olympians with middle distance runner Peter Snell and canoiest Paul MacDonald. Ian Ferguson is the most successful with four golds. Any medal would take his overall haul to five, a tie with Ferguson and MacDonald, but he could end the day with two medals in London putting him on top of the list. Todd's second triumph in 1988 was ranked no.11 in the Herald's list of 20 NZ Olympic Moments . ODDS: Australian bookies sportsbet.com.au have listed Todd as joint-favourite with Jung to take the gold at $3.75. Klimke is listed at $5.50 and Algottson Ostholt at $4.50.

TODD'S CV 1984 - Gold - Individual Three Day Event 1988 - Gold - Individual Three Day Event 1988 - Bronze - Team Three Day Event 2000 - Bronze - Individual Three Day Event British eventing legend Richard Meade dies at 76 - Horsetalk.co.nz Horsetalk.co.nz LiveJournal x Richard Meade, at far left on Laurieston, with the British team of, from left, Mark Phillips (Great Ovation), Bridget Parker (Cornish Gold), and Mary Gordon-Watson (Cornishman V) after winning gold at the 1972 Olympic Games. Triple Olympic gold medal winning eventer Richard Meade has died at the age of 76 after a battle with cancer. Meade was diagnosed with cancer last October and had six weeks of treatment, His son, Harry, said last week that Richard had returned to hospital on Boxing Day after having Christmas at home with his family. He said he deteriorated quickly and was unable to withstand any further treatment. He died on Thursday, January 8.

Meade, a former member of the FEI Bureau, FEI Eventing Committee and Chairman of Group II (Northern Europe), was the first British athlete to win individual Eventing gold riding Laurieston, at the Munich 1972 Olympic Games, after making his Olympic début in Tokyo eight years earlier. In Munich, he also helped Great Britain to secure their second consecutive Olympic team gold medal following the Mexico 1968 Olympic Games where, in a tropical downpour in the jumping phase, he clinched the team title and secured fourth individually with a clear round on Cornishman V, a horse he had never sat on before. Richard Meade in 1982 after winning the Badminton Horse Trials with Speculator III. © Bob Thomas/Getty Images Monmouthshire-born, Meade came from a family with a legacy of equestrian links. His parents were joint masters of the Curre Hounds at Itton near Chepstow and set up Britain’s first Connemara stud. Richard was educated at Lancing College and Cambridge University, where he read Engineering. He served in the 11th Hussars and worked in London before embarking on a life committed to the horse world.

In total he competed in four Olympic Games, as well as the substitute event at Fontainebleau (FRA) in 1980 during the partial boycott of the Moscow Games, and also carried the British flag at the closing ceremony of the Munich Olympics. He went on to claim team silver at the FEI World Eventing Championships in 1974, and by 1981 had scored team gold three times for Great Britain at the European Championships (1967, 1971, 1981). In 1982, he won his final team eventing gold at the World Championships in Luhmühlen (GER). As an individual, he also won at Badminton in 1970 (The Poacher) and 1982 (Speculator III), and the Burghley Horse Trials in 1964 (Barberry). His dedication to equestrian sport was life-long, and after retiring as an athlete he served as President of the British Equestrian Federation, chairman of the Federation’s British Horse Foundation and on the British Horse Society’s Council. In 1972 he was voted BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year.

The same year he came third in the BBC Sports Personality of the Year and was part of the team that won the Team of the Year award. In 1974 he was appointed an OBE for services to sport. He served on the sport’s governing body in the UK (now British Eventing) continuously for over 30 years until after its reorganisation in 1996 when he was made a vice-president. He was an FEI Judge and Course Designer, roles that took him all over the world. He was also a well-respected judge of show horses. Latterly, Meade worked as an equestrian expert witness and continued to train riders from his home in South Gloucestershire. He was also focused on developing eventing globally. As well as being a former member of the FEI Bureau and FEI Eventing Committee, and Chairman of Group II (Northern Europe), he was an FEI coach and judge and worked closely with the FEI and the Olympic Solidarity programme to develop Eventing at grass roots level.

“Richard Meade was a brilliant, courageous horseman with a strong sense of team responsibility, who became a household name in Great Britain,” said Hugh Thomas, Chairman of the Board of British Eventing and Director of the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials. Richard Meade “He was known for his reliability as a member of the British team at the height of its success, and as a rider who had the ability to get on any horse and immediately form a successful partnership with it. Most recently, he gained great pleasure from seeing his son, Harry, compete for the senior British team. Richard will be very sorely missed by many people around the world,” Thomas said. “Richard at the height of his powers towered over the eventing world – his results far exceeded the innate ability of many of the horses he rode and he was at his very best when riding at the major events and Championships. Then he gave countless time and effort to supporting the sport he loved. His passing really does feel like the end of an era.” Andrew Finding, Chief Executive of the British Equestrian Federation said: “Richard’s medal record speaks for itself.

He was one of our country’s greatest ever Olympians and continued throughout his life to be an outstanding ambassador and sportsman – he cared deeply about the sport and we will miss him dearly.” Catrin Norinder, FEI Director, Eventing & Olympic, said Meade was “the horseman of his day”, putting eventing on the map and the spotlight on the glamour and excitement of horse sport. “He inspired sports fans and athletes around the world at the Mexico and Munich Olympic Games, World and European Championships, and back on home soil at Badminton and Burghley, which continue to showcase international Eventing at its best. “After competing, he continued to dedicate his life to equestrian sport and the equestrian community in many valuable roles, including giving his services as a volunteer at the London 2012 Olympic Games. We are all truly grateful for his loyalty and commitment, and immensely proud of his Olympic Eventing legacy.” Meade is survived by his wife Angela and their three children – Team GBR member Harry, James and Lucy.

Richard Meade’s medal-winning record: Olympic Games: 1968 Mexico City: Team Gold (Cornishman) 1972 Munich, Germany: Team Gold and Individual Gold (Laurieston) World Championships: 1966 Burghley, Great Britain: Individual Silver (Barberry) 1970 Punchestown, Ireland: Team Gold and Individual Silver (The Poacher) 1974 Burghley, Great Britain: Team Silver (Wayfarer II) 1982 Luhmuhlen, Germany: Team Gold (Kilcashel) European Championships: 1965 Moscow, Russia: Team Bronze (Barberry) 1967 Punchestown, Ireland: Team Gold (Barberry) 1971 Burghley, Great Britain: Team Gold (The Poacher) 1973 Kiev, Russia: Team Bronze (Wayfarer II) 1981 Horsens, Denmark: Team Gold (Kilcashel)

Question: Which British rider rode 'Laurieston' to win the 1972 Olympic gold medal for the Individual Three-Day Event?
Answer: RICHARD MEADE