The Olympic Games will start in Tokyo in exactly 100 days. We look back to the best riders and moments in equestrian sports.
Daniel Bouckaert and Louis Finet
In 1920 the Belgian Daniel Bouckaert won gold twice, once for individual vaulting and once for vaulting in team at the Olympic Games in Antwerp. He died at the age of 71 in Assebroek. Bronze was reserved for the Belgian Louis Finet for the individual vaulting.
Anky van Grunsven
The Dutch Anky van Grunsven remains one of the riders with the best performances at the Olympic Games. She won 9 medals in total, three of which were gold. In 2000 in Sydney, in 2004 in Athens and again four years later in Beijing. The last two times she won with the famous Salinero.
Eric Wauters
In 1976 the Belgian team won the bronze medal in show jumping in Montreal. Eric Wauters represented our country together with François Mathy, Edgar-Henri Cuepper and Stanny Van Paesschen.
Isabell Werth
The record with the most Olympic medals belongs to the German Isabell Werth. She won six gold medals and four silver medals. In addition, Isabell is three-time world champion individual and four-time world champion in team. Germany is the country with the most gold medals in equestrian sports.
Nick Skelton
Nick Skelton has won the last individual gold medal in show jumping with his horse Big Star in Rio in 2016. In 2012 he also won the gold medal with his team. Skelton broke his neck in 2000 after a bad fall from his horse, in 2002 he started his jumping career again.
Jeroen Dubbeldam
The Dutchman Jeroen Dubbeldam participated twice in the Olympic Games. In 2000 he won the individual gold medal in jumping with his horse De Sjiem. In 2016 in Rio, Dubbeldam was chosen to be the flag bearer for the Dutch delegation at the opening ceremony.
Peder Fredricson
The Swedish Peder Fredricson has won two silver medals. In 2004 he won second place with the team in Athens, in 2016 in Rio he won the silver medal individually. Fredricson first appeared at the Olympics as an eventing rider before he competed in jumping. Sweden is in second place as the country with the most Olympic medals in equestrian sports, with 43 medals.
Charlotte Dujardin
Charlotte Dujardin should not be missed, in 2016 and 2012 she individually won the gold medal in dressage. Together with the British team she won silver in 2016 and gold in 2012. She competed in the Olympics with her horse Valegro, with whom she broke the world record in 2012 with a score of 90.089%. Dujardin is the most successful British rider.
Henry Saint Cyr
The Swedish rider Henry Saint Cyr won four gold medals at the Olympic Games in dressage in 1952 and 1956 with his horses Master Rufus and Juli. Cyr also originally started as an eventing rider, in 1936 he took part in the Games in Berlin. In 1960 in Rome, he finished fourth.
Eric Lamaze
Canadian show jumper Eric Lamaze and the Dutch horse Hickstead won gold individually and silver in team in 2008. Hickstead died unexpectedly in 2011 during the World Cup in Verona. In 2016 Lamaze won the bronze medal individually together with Fine Lady 5.