Horse Sport Ireland are delighted to announce the appointment of Michael Blake as High-Performance Jumping Director (incorporating the role of Chef d’Equipe) of the Irish Senior Show Jumping team.
Prior to this appointment, Michael held the roles of Team Ireland Senior Development Jumping Manager and Assistant Team Manager to the Irish Senior Show Jumping team. Since 2017, Michael has played a key role in the success of Ireland’s senior Show Jumping team, including their recent win at the Nations Cup World Final in Barcelona and their 2017 win at the European Championships. Michael has fulfilled the role of Chef d’Equipe for the Irish Senior Show Jumping team at 18 international shows and Assistant Team Manager at a further 43 international shows.
In his role as Team Ireland Senior Development Jumping Manager, Michael has successfully identified both horses and athletes across the world and given them the opportunity to compete at three, four and five-star Nations Cup competitions. Under his experienced eye, the Team Ireland Development Squad model has successfully broadened Ireland’s pool of talented athletes and horses with on average 28 new combinations making their Nations Cup debut each year.
Prior to his involvement with the senior jumping squad, Michael was involved with the youth squads and was assistant to the Jumping Young Rider Team Manager for the 2016 Young Rider European Championships in Millstreet where Ireland secured the team Gold Medal.
In his role as Horse Sport Ireland High-Performance Jumping Director, Michael Blake will focus on the delivery of the high-performance plan 2020 and on performance targets for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, taking responsibility for planning, performance monitoring and selection for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
source: Horse Sports Ireland
