History Of Showjumping At The Olympics

1912 Stockholm, Sweden - Showjuming would not be included in the following two olympics but would return with the other equestrian sports of dressage and eventing in 1912. At the early olympic games, all competitors had to be in the military, so all competitors were commissioned army officers.

The gold medal winner at the 1912 Stockholm olympics was the French rider Jacques Cariou who also participated in the eventing winning a bronze medal. 1912 was the first time in which the olympics had a team showjumping event which was won by the home nation Sweden, beating France (silver) and Germany (bronze).

Pictured is 1912 olympic gold medal winner Jacques Cariou & his horse Mignon

The 1912 Olympics featured 8 countries with horse & riders having to jump 1.40m fences.

1920 Antwerp, Belgium - World war one would see a pause to the olympic games until 1920, when the games would begin again in Antwerp, Belgium. Sweden would again win the team event with Italian rider Tommaso Lequio di Assaba winning individual gold.

1924 Paris, France - In 1924 we would see the Olympics to return to Paris, Italian gold medal winner Tommaso Lequio di Assaba from the 1920 would return to claim silver medal, beaten by Swiss rider Alphonse Gemuseus who would take home the gold medal. The Swedish jumping team would again there dominance at the leading jumping team winning the gold for the third olympics in a row.

1928 Amsterdam, Holland - The 1928 olympics would be held in the capital of Holland, Amsterdam. The individual gold medal was won by Czech rider Frantisek Ventura riding Elliot, beating Pierre Bertran de Balanda of France and Charles-Gustave of Switzerland.

Sweden the team who had dominated the team jumping winning team gold three olympic games in a row would finish 3rd winning bronze, being beaten by Spain who would win the gold medal, with Poland taking silver medal.

Pictured is Frantisek Ventura and his horse Elliot, who won olympic gold.

1932 Los Angeles - The 1932 Olympics was the first to be held outside of Europe, this would also see a greater number of non European competitors, this would be evident in the view of the podium with Japanese rider Takeichi Nishi winning gold and Harry Chamberlin from the USA winning the silver medal. The team jumping would prove to be disappointing as no team finished with 3 riders, resulting in no medals being given for the team jumping event.

1936 Berlin - A historic olympic games, held in Nazi Germany, the German national team would win on home soil taking the team gold, German rider Kurt Hasse would also win individual gold riding Tora.

1948 London - The second world war would again see a break in olympic games, we would see a return in 1948, held in the United Kingdom. 1948 would see Humberto Mariles Cortés from Mexico winning gold, the first non European to win gold in Europe. The Mexican jumping team would also win gold, with the host nation of the UK winning team bronze.

1952 Helsinki, Finland - In 1952 in Helsinki, we would see the United Kingdom win there first team gold medal, beating Chile (silver) and the USA (bronze).

French rider Pierre Jonquères d'Oriola riding Ali Baba would win individual gold, with Oscar Cristi from Chile winning silver and German rider Fritz Thiedemann winning the bronze medal.

Pictured is Harry Llewellyn riding the great Foxhunter, member of the British gold medal winning team, four years earlier they had been part of the British bronze medal winning team at the London Olympics. Foxhunter would be recognised as a showjumping great, to this day we still know the name Foxhunter as it is name of the most prestigious young horse class in the UK with the Foxhunter final held at the Horse Of The Year Show.

1956 Stockholm, Sweden - In 1956 In Stockholm, we would see the German team dominate the show jumping Hans Gunter Winkler would win individual gold while the German team would win the team gold.

1960 Rome, Italy - In 1960 Italian rider Raimondo D'Inzeo would win gold on home soil riding Posillipo, with fellow Italian Piero D'Inzeo winning silver medal. Bronze would go to up and coming British rider David Broome. Germany would again win team gold.

1964 Tokyo, Japan - The 1964 Japanese olympics would see French rider Pierre Jonquères d'Oriola win gold, with a third team gold in a row for the German national jumping team. British rider Peter Robeson on Firecrest would win the individual bronze medal.

1968 MexicoCity, Mexico - The 1968 games would see the USA claim individual gold with William Steinkraus riding Snowbound, we would also see the introduction of a showjumping legend the pocket rocket Stroller (the only pony to compete at the Olympic Games), ridden by Marion Coakes from the UK who won individual silver. The team jumping would be won by Canada, we would also see the first Olympic games were Germany would compete as two nations, East and West Germany.

Below you can watch Marion Coats & Stroller competing at the Mexican olympics

1972 Munich, Germany - In 1972 Munich olympics would see Italian rider Graziano Mancinelli win gold medal, with British rider Ann Moore riding Psalm winning Silver medal. West Germany would win team gold.

>1976 Montreal - 1976 would see another gold medal for Germany, with Alwin Schockemöhle representing West Germany, riding Warwick Rex, France would win the team gold.

>1980 Moscow, USSR - The 1980 olympics in Moscow was boycotted by many nations because of the USSR`s invasion of Afghanistan, as a result only seven nations had representatives there, gold was won by Polish rider Jan Kowalczyk with Artemor, the USSR would win the team jumping event.

1984 Los Angeles, USA - Because of the American boycott of the 1980 Olympic games, the USSR would boycott the the American games in Los Angeles. The USA would dominate the individual podium with Joseph Fargis winning gold and fellow American Conrad Homfel winning silver. The USA would also win the team jumping beating Great Britain who won team silver.

1988 Seoul, South Korea - The 1988 would see another showjumping star the fiesty little jappeloup ridden by French rider Pierre Durand who would win gold, American rider Greg Best riding Gem Twist winning the silver medal, bronze medal was won by Karsten Huck & Nepomuk. West Germany would win team gold, beating the USA (silver) and France (bronze)

Pictured is Jappeloup, who would be a fan favourite for many years, and even was a subject of a DVD released in 2013 celebrating this famous little horse.

1992 Barcelona - In Spain, 1992 Olympics in Barcelona Germany would once again win an individual gold medal, with Ludger Beerbaum riding Classic Touch, Piet Raymakers riding the great Ratina Z would win silver and be part of the Dutch gold medal winning team.

1996 Atlanta - Although there had be many stallions who had competed in the Olympics up to 1996, the Atlanta olympics would be the first time for a stallion to claim the individual gold medal, when German rider Ulrich Kirchhoff riding Jus de Pommes wins gold, the German team would also win the team gold medal. Unfortunately shortly after winning the gold medal Jus de Pommes came down with colic and had to be put to sleep.

2000 Sydney, Aystralia - The Sydney olympics would see Holland win the individual gold (Jeroen Dubbeldam on De Sjiem) and silver medal (Albert Voorn on Lando), the 2000 Sydney olympics would see the first ever Arab nation winning a medal with Khaled Al-Eid on Khashm Al Aan taking the bronze medal. Germany would again show there dominance in the sport of showjumping winning another team gold.

2004 Athens, Greece - At the 2004 olympics, the three time world cup winner Rodrigo Pessoa and his stallion Baloubet du Rouet would win the gold medal, the USA would win the team jumping event, with American rider Chris Kappler & Kaliber winning the individual silver medal. Sweden would win the team silver, with Germany taking the bronze medal.

Pictured is Baloubet du Rouet and Rodrigo Pessoa, gold medal winners, Baloubet du Rouet has gone on to produce many outstanding progeny.

2008 Beijing, China - The 2008 olympics in China, was one by Eric Lamaze of Canada riding the great stallion Hickstead, while the team event was again won by the USA for the second olympic games in a row.

2012 London, United Kingdom - The 2012 olympic games team jumping was won by the home nation, the United Kingdom. Swiss rider Steve Guerdat riding Nino Des Buissonets (Kannan) would win the individual gold medal.

2016 Rio, Brazil - At the 2016 Rio Olympics, Nick Skelton who narrowly missed out on the gold in London would take gold this team, beating Swedish rider Peder Fredericson. France would win the team gold beating the USA and Germany.