June 12, 2011
According to an announcement posted on the British Equestrian Federation last night, Great Britain has formally nominated five riders to the British Olympic Association (BOA) for host nation “Team GB” in Olympic Eventing. The nominations must now be reviewed and ratified by the BOA before the athletes can be officially 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 and Mrs Valda Embiricos William Fox-Pitt (43) from Sturminster Newton, Dorset riding Lionheart, owned by Mr Jeremy and 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 and Mr Michael Underwood Mary King (51) from Sidmouth, Devon riding Imperial Cavalier, owned by Mrs Janette Chinn and Mr Edwin and Mrs Sue Davies Zara Phillips (31) from Stroud, Gloucestershire riding High Kingdom, owned by Gleadhill House Stud Ltd Mary King will be riding in her sixth Olympic Games; it will be William Fox-Pitt?s fourth and Kristina Cook?s second. Zara Phillips and Georgina French will make their Olympic debuts in London 2012. 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 earned 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 before the departure to Hong Kong. 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. Tina Cook’s horse Miner’s Frolic made a miraculous comeback from illness after being scratched at the vet inspection during the 2011 Badminton Horse Trials. Tina commented, “He nearly died of colitis 12 months ago so to come back to this level shows he’s a real fighter – that’s what pulled him through.” Only French was nominated with two horses. Alternates will be named at a later date. ????????? Fran Jurga is a freelance writer and editor from Gloucester, Massachusetts. Her award-winning blogs include The Jurga Report for EQUUS Magazine and War Horse News on the 2011 Steven Spielberg film. Fran is the founder of Hoofcare and Lameness Journal and writes a specialist Hoof Blog.? Fran wrote the WorldRides blog for the Hong Kong equestrian events of the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the Discover WEG blog for the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in 2010.You can follow Fran on Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter for more news about the horse world.