Horse and Hound have today announced Nick Skelton as the winner of the Lifetime Achievement award at their inaugural awards ceremony which was held at Ascot Racecourse yesterday, 3 November 2016.
Nick, aged 58 years, inspired an entirely new generation when he won Individual Gold at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games having recovered from a broken neck and hip replacement to fulfil a lifelong goal. This accompanied with the fact that he did it with Gary & Beverley Widdowson's incredible bay stallion Big Star who had also been nursed back to health made their winning story all the more deserving.
Accepting the award last night, Nick said: “It’s amazing to be receiving this award. Thank you to everyone who voted for me. It’s been a long road. There are so many people to thank for me standing here. Owners, horses, riders, grooms, vets and blacksmiths.
“Obviously, the highlight was 10 weeks ago [winning individual gold in Rio]; to do that was a dream, and to have a horse like [Big Star] makes life a lot easier! He's had his ups and downs and breakages, and came back. He’s an amazing horse and without him, I wouldn’t be standing here.”
Ten awards, including Nick’s, were both nominated and voted for by the public.
For further information on the awards please visit www.horseandhound.co.uk.
Horse and Hound have today announced Nick Skelton as the winner of the Lifetime Achievement award at their inaugural awards ceremony which was held at Ascot Racecourse yesterday, 3 November 2016.
Nick, aged 58 years, inspired an entirely new generation when he won Individual Gold at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games having recovered from a broken neck and hip replacement to fulfil a lifelong goal. This accompanied with the fact that he did it with Gary & Beverley Widdowson's incredible bay stallion Big Star who had also been nursed back to health made their winning story all the more deserving.
Accepting the award last night, Nick said: “It’s amazing to be receiving this award. Thank you to everyone who voted for me. It’s been a long road. There are so many people to thank for me standing here. Owners, horses, riders, grooms, vets and blacksmiths.
“Obviously, the highlight was 10 weeks ago [winning individual gold in Rio]; to do that was a dream, and to have a horse like [Big Star] makes life a lot easier! He's had his ups and downs and breakages, and came back. He’s an amazing horse and without him, I wouldn’t be standing here.”
Ten awards, including Nick’s, were both nominated and voted for by the public.
For further information on the awards please visit www.horseandhound.co.uk.