Team silver medallists Olympic Games Beijing 2008 L-R Shane Rose, Sonja Johnson, Megan Jones, Lucinda Fredericks, Clayton Fredericks with Chef d'Equipe Rob Hanna
Photo: John Gatfield/An Eventful Life
Olympic Day, held annually on June 23, commemorates the birth of the modern Olympic Games.
To celebrate Olympic Day and to place a little more focus on our great Australian Olympic eventers we’re giving away 3 copies of the book An Eventful Life – Life Stories of Eventing Champions. If you want to know what it takes to be an eventing Olympic medallist, this is the book for you
This book, published by Palmer Higgs and written by Alison Duthie provides a written and pictorial insight into the lives of five elite Australian eventing riders; Megan Jones, Sonja Johnson, Shane Rose, Wendy Schaeffer and Stuart Tinney. They are all Olympic medallists, they are all aiming for further medals and they are all based in Australia. An additional chapter on an up and coming rider, Emma Scott, gives an insight into how younger Australian riders view the world of professional equestrian sport. To read more about these riders, CLICK HERE
Equestrian journalist and writer Alison Duthie spent time talking to these riders about their lives, their horses, their ambitions and their businesses. She visited their homes, followed them at competitions and met their partners – both human and equine! Their backgrounds, personalities and approaches to life vary but there are recurring themes of determination, passion and ambition. The result is a fascinating book comprising of six compelling individual stories which, when combined, provide an incisive overview of the sport of eventing in Australia.
Each of the five Olympic riders has a section dedicated to their story consisting of 32 pages of text and 16 pages of colour photographs. The section featuring young rider Emma Scott consists of 16 pages of text and 8 pages of colour photographs. The book also contains a chapter providing a background to the sport of eventing and a record of Australian achievements in eventing at the Olympic Games and the World Equestrian Games to 2009.
To go into the draw to win one of the three books, just subscribe to our free e-newsletter. All subscribers will go into the draw on Monday 25th June so make sure you are registered this weekend! To subscribe CLICK HERE
An Eventful Life – Life Stories of Eventing Champions is available to buy in print and eBook format from Palmer Higgs Books. It can also be purchased in Kindle format from Amazon and is available on iTunes
In the meantime, here's some more images from the book to whet your appetite and remind us of some of Australia's great Olympic moments
Team gold medallists Atlanta Olympic Games 1996 L-R Phillip Dutton, Gill Rolton, Wendy Schaeffer, Andrew Hoy
Photo: Mary Phelps/An Eventful Life
Team gold medallists Sydney Olympics 2000 L-R Andrew Hoy on Darien Powers, Philllip Dutton House Doctor, Matt Ryan on Kibah Sandstone, Stuart Tinney on Jeepster
Photo: Julie Wilson/An Eventful Life
Megan Jones and Kirby Park Irish Jester through the water at Hong Kong Photo: Franz Venhaus/An Eventful Life
Sonja Johnson and Ringwould Jaguar cross country at Hong Kong Photo: Julie Wilson/An Eventful Life
Shane Rose and All Luck; despite the rain were the fastest combination on cross country at Hong Kong Photo: John Gatfield/An Eventful Life
Wendy Schaeffer and Sunburst - a 21 year old and her Pony Club horse won gold at Atlanta Photo: An Eventful Life
Stuart Tinney and Jeepster took gold at Sydney 2000 - just 40 minutes from Stuart's home Photo: Barbara Thomsen/An Eventful Life
Jeepster returned to the Sydney 2000 venue at Horsley Park ten years later for the anniversary. Despite being in retirement, he seemed to remember the place and looked ready for cross country as he shows in this video!
For lots more of these photos, many not published before, and the real life stories behind the Olympic medals, make sure you have a copy of An Eventful Life - Life Stories of Eventing Champions.
