William Fox-Pitt is one of the riders nominated for the Team GB eventing team Photo: Libby Law
The British Equestrian Federation has formally nominated the following five riders to the British Olympic Association (BOA) for Team GB. The nominations must now be reviewed and ratified by the BOA before the athletes are selected for Team GB.
The nominated athletes are:
Kristina Cook - (41) from Worthing, West Sussex riding Miners Frolic, owned by Mrs Sarah Pelham, Mr Nicholas & Mrs Valda Embiricos
William Fox-Pitt (43) from Sturminster Newton, Dorset riding Lionheart, owned by Mr Jeremy & Mrs Judith Skinner
Georgina [Piggy French] (31) from Lubenham, Leicestershire riding Jakata owned by Mr Wally French & Mr Michael Underwood or DHI Topper W, owned by Mr Wally French & Mr Michael Underwood
Mary King (51) from Sidmouth, Devon riding Imperial Cavalier, owned by Mrs Janette Chinn and Mr Edwin & Mrs Sue Davies
Zara Phillips (31) from Stroud, Gloucestershire riding High Kingdom, owned by Gleadhill House Stud Ltd
Between the five selected riders the eventing team contains a wealth of experience; this will be Mary King’s sixth Olympic Games; William Fox-Pitt’s fourth and Kristina Cook’s second. Although Zara Phillips and Georgina French will make their Olympic debuts in London 2012, they are also no strangers to championship call ups for their country.
Kristina Cook, William Fox-Pitt and Mary King were all members of the GB eventing squad that won team bronze at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, where Kristina also scooped the individual bronze on Miner’s Frolic. The same trio were then part of the team that won gold at the 2010 World Championships, where William Fox-Pitt took an individual silver medal.
Zara was crowned individual World Champion in 2006 but missed out on her Olympic dream in 2008 when her horse Toytown suffered an injury prior to competition. She is now back at the top of the sport with High Kingdom, a horse that she has brought up the ranks from novice level.
Georgina French (more commonly known by her nickname Piggy), won individual silver at the 2009 European Championships and was also part of the 2011 European Championship team that won bronze alongside team mates Fox-Pitt and King. Piggy also won the Olympic Test event in Greenwich in 2011.
Equestrian Team Leader, Will Connell commented: “It’s been a challenging spring with a number of events cancelled and great credit is due to all the riders who have had to reflect this in their plans. It has also been a challenging time for selectors. The team we have now nominated to the BOA is crammed full of athletes that have proven medal winning ability at European, World and Olympic level. I offer my congratulations to them, their support teams and their horse’s owners and look forward to working with them during the final push to the London Olympics.”
Eventing Performance Manager Yogi Breisner commented: “It’s great to now have names on the team sheet and I look forward to working with them to put final plans together for Greenwich.”
Zara Phillips, who finished third at Bramham on the weekend riding High Kingdom commented
“It’s awesome to be given this opportunity, I’m really excited and can’t wait to kick on and get him there - hopefully we will make it this time after you know what happened last time
High Kingdom is a pretty cool, very relaxed kind of guy, I was really happy with him at Bramham as he’d obviously grown up and is improving all the time. He’s pretty pony-like, a nippy little jumper and easy to manoeuvre so hopefully it will suit him well in Greenwich.
High Kingdom is owned by Trevor Hemmings who’s been one of my earliest supporters – he’s owned a lot of my horses and has been so supportive, I couldn’t do it without him."
Reserve horses and riders are yet to be announced
For more information visit British Eventing
