For the second month in a row France's Simon Delestre is on top of the Longines world ranking of show jumping. Delestre was the rider who broke the continues reign of Great-Britain's Scott Brash, here are some funfacts about this show jumper.
1. Delestre was born into a family of horse lovers.
His father, Marcel Delestre, was the show jumping coach of the national junior and young rider team for 10 years. During his tenure, France collected 18 medals in the junior divisions at the European Championships. Marcel has trained his son all through his career and is credited for being Simon’s biggest influence.
2. Delestre was twice the European Pony Champion.
He won the title in 1994 and 1995 aboard his first pony love, Panama du Cassou HN. Delestre went on to win individual gold at the France Junior Championships in 1999 and team gold at the European Championship for Young Riders in 2000. His famous Arabian, Panama, died peacefully in 2012 at age 31, one hour after Delestre competed in the first individual final at the Olympic Games.
3. His motto is “harder, better, faster, stronger.”
JK. That’s Kanye West. Simon’s motto is “work hard.” It doesn’t have the same ring to it. But the sentiment is the same. Plus, his dad backed up his work ethic in this leperon.fr post: “He’s a great worker…Simon [is] always trying to evolve and do what is best. He is constantly improving his technique.”
4. He has as exactly zero hobbies.
“No time for that,” said Simon in an obscure Wikipedia footnote we could not verify, but decided to report anyway.
5. Delestre’s rein broke on course at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
Mon dieu! The lead rider for France, Simon’s suffered a tack malfunction at the penultimate fence of the first round in the team competition. Clear up until that point, he received six faults. The French team came in 12th overall.
6. His ambition is to win an Olympic medal at the Rio Games this summer.
Because obviously. He wouldn’t be world #1 if he wasn’t ambitious. Delestre and Napoli du Ry finished 19th in the individual jumping finals at the London Games.
7. But the Mediterranean Games is his jam.
Delestre’s best record is at the Mediterranean Games. To date, he’s won two gold medals and one silver, both as part of a team and individually.
8. He’s known for being ridiculously fast.
“Does he have a build-in clock?” asked World of Show Jumping in this 2011 interview. “No, I just like to go fast in everything I do,” laughed Delestre. “Whether it is on the horseback, on downhill skies or behind the wheel of my car…at least when I have my driver’s license!”
