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.
