We’re nearly there! Olympic mania has taken over the world, and we’re in the final countdown to the Olympic eventing competition in Tokyo, which starts with the first horse inspection on Thursday. Our USA riders are raring to go, but let’s remind ourselves of the history that precedes them. Just how well has the US team done in past Olympics?
Our friends at EquiRatings have dug out some fascinating stats…
Since 1964, the USA has won more individual eventing medals than any other nation - 9.
Here’s how they break down:
Gold: Tad Coffin (Bally-Cor) 1976; David O’Connor (Custom Made) 2000
Silver: Michael Plumb (Better & Better) 1976; Karen Stives (Ben Arthur) 1984; Kim Severson (Winsome Adante) 2004; Gina Miles (McKinlaigh) 2008
Bronze: Michael Page (Foster) 1968; Kerry Millikin (Out And About) 1996; Philip Dutton (Mighty Nice) 2016
The USA has also won the second-highest number of team eventing medals since 1964 - 8 (tied with Great Britain, also with 8). Only Germany has more (9).
This is the list:
1964 (Tokyo): silver
1968 (Mexico City): silver
1972 (Munich): silver
1976 (Montreal): gold
1984 (Los Angeles): gold
1996 (Atlanta): silver
2000 (Sydney): bronze
2004 (Athens): bronze
The great David O’Connor - winner of the individual gold medal at Sydney 2000 aboard Custom Made - holds the record for the best-ever eventing dressage score at the Olympics: 19.3 (when converted to the current scoring system). He and Custom Made went on to win that gold medal on the lowest ever eventing finishing score at an Olympics: 23.3 (when converted to the current scoring system).
Only twice has the leader after dressage at the Olympics held on to their position at the top of the leaderboard to win the gold medal: Sir Mark Todd did it in Seoul in 1988 on Charisma and David O’Connor followed him in 2000.
In Athens, the US team won the bronze medal and achieved the nation’s lowest team finishing score since 1980: 101.1.
One of the Tokyo 2020 team members, Phillip Dutton, has the best Olympic cross-country record of any rider since 1980 with a perfect 5 cross-country clears from 5 Olympic cross-country attempts. David O’Connor also has a 100% record at the Olympics with 4 from 4.
Hannah Warner wears many hats: student at the University of Kentucky, UK Eventing Team President, competitor, and head groom for Alexa Ehlers. Fitting in all of her roles and responsibilities into her day-to-day life can be a challenge, but it is a challenge that Warner finds rewarding. The college senior is working towards a business degree through UK's online business program, so Warner is able to get creative with her schedule to pursue all of her academic and eventing related goals.
The Area III Championships kicked off the 2022 USEA Area Championship season June 24-26 at the Stable View Summer H.T. in Aiken, South Carolina. Offering 12 different championship divisions from Intermediate to Beginner Novice, the championships were highly contested as riders from all across Area III put in a gallant effort in hopes of being deemed division champion. The USEA caught up with many of the individual champions to look back on their performances in Aiken that helped them bring home the top prize.
The United States Eventing Association (USEA) is pleased to announce the athletes selected for the 2022 USEA Emerging Athlete 21 (EA21) Program. USEA Young Rider program members aged 21 and under are eligible for the program, which aims to creates a pipeline for potential U.S. team riders by identifying and developing young talent, improving horsemanship and riding skills, and training and improving skills and consistency.
The USEA American Eventing Championships (AEC) presented by Nutrena Feeds are just two months away. The AEC moves to the mountains this year, taking place at Rebecca Farm in Kalispell, Montana across a long Labor Day weekend.