Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Birth name | Robert James Elder | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | 27 July 1934 88) Toronto, Ontario, Canada [1] | (age||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 172 cm (5 ft 8 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 70 kg (154 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | Equestrian | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Event(s) | Show jumping, 3-day eventing | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Robert James Elder, OC (born 27 July 1934) is a Canadian retired businessman and former equestrian. He competed at six Olympic Games between 1956 and 1984, winning one gold and one bronze medal. He missed the 1964 and 1980 Olympics because Canada did not send eventing and jumping teams there. [1]
Born in Toronto, Ontario, Elder started competitive jumping at the age of 16 in 1950. During 36 years of competition, he won an Olympic gold medal, one Olympic bronze, five Pan American medals, and a world title. Elder was Canada's flag bearer at the closing ceremony of the 1972 Munich Olympics. [2]
In 1983, he was honoured with the Order of Canada. He was inducted into the Canada's Sports Hall of Fame (1968), Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame (1971), Canada's Walk of Fame (2003), Canadian Eventing Hall of Fame (2009), and the Jump Canada (2010) Hall of Fame. [3]
Elder graduated from the University of Toronto, where he was a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, and he later ran a successful refrigeration company. [1] Since retiring, he has worked with Big Brothers and several other charity foundations, including the Community Association of Riding for the Disabled in Ontario and the Canadian Therapeutic Riding Association. He is also one of the co-founders of the Toronto Polo Club.
Elder's brother, Norman Elder, was an author and explorer. He was also an Olympic equestrian rider at the 1960 and 1968 Olympics. [4] The brothers were on the same eventing teams at the 1959 Pan American Games and 1960 Olympics. [1]
Ian Millar, CM is a Canadian Equestrian Team athlete for show jumping. He is a two-time winner of the Show Jumping World Cup, and an Olympic silver medalist. Due to his longevity and accomplishments, he is often nicknamed "Captain Canada" in his sport. He holds the record for most Olympic appearances by any athlete in any sport (10). A member of Canada's 2012 Olympic Games team, he broke the record when he took part in his tenth Games in London 2012.
Norman Sam Elder was a Canadian explorer, exotic animal owner, writer, artist, Olympic equestrian and one of Toronto's eccentrics. He was the owner of the Norman Elder Museum at 140 Bedford Road in the Annex, an affluent neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario.
James E. Day was a Canadian Olympic equestrian show jumping champion and Thoroughbred horse trainer.
Abigail Golda Hoffman, is a Canadian former track and field athlete.
James Cunningham Wofford was an American equestrian who competed in many international competitions in the sport of eventing. He was most known as a trainer of both horses and riders, and as a retired president of the AHSA and vice-president of the USET.
James William George Roycroft, OBE was an Australian Olympic equestrian champion. He grew up on a dairy farm and learnt to ride horses there. After serving in the army in World War II, he moved with his family to a soldier's block in western Victoria near Camperdown, where he raised his three sons, all of whom went on to compete alongside their father in the Olympics. At his first Olympics, the 1960 Rome Games, he played a key role on the final day of the team three-day event, despite being thrown off his horse the day before, allowing Australia to win the gold medal in the competition. He went on to compete in four more Olympics from 1964 to 1976, winning bronze medals in team eventing at the 1968 Mexico City and 1976 Montreal Games. He later served as coach of the Australian eventing team.
Michael R. Matz is an American race horse trainer and former Olympic equestrian team member who was inducted into the show jumping Hall of Fame. He lives in Coatesville, Pennsylvania. As a trainer, he has scored two wins in the Classics, the 2012 Belmont Stakes with Union Rags and the 2006 Kentucky Derby with Barbaro. Matz also was named "person of the week" by ABC News for his heroism in saving four children from the crash of United Airlines Flight 232 in 1989 on which he was a passenger.
Phillip Peter Dutton, OAM is an Australian-born Olympic-level equestrian rider competing in eventing for the United States of America. He is a dual Olympic gold medalist who formerly competed for his country of birth but now competes for the USA.
Beverly Boys is a retired diver from Canada, who represented her native country in three consecutive Summer Olympics, starting in 1968. She won a total number of three medals at the Pan American Games.
Nancy McCredie was a Canadian female track and field athlete. During her athletic career, she won three gold medals at the Pan American Games and one bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games. McCredie was awarded the Velma Springstead Trophy as the best Canadian female athlete of the year in 1963.
Alwin Schockemöhle is a former German show-jumper. He was a successful international show jumping equestrian in the 1960s and 1970s at individual and team events in Olympic Games and European Championships. He was one of four children, a girl and three boys. His younger brother Paul was also a successful show-jumper. Werner Schockemöhle, his youngest brother was a well-known horse breeder in Oldenburg.
William Clark "Bill" Steinkraus was an American show jumping champion.
Gina Miles is an American eventing rider. Riding McKinlaigh, owned by Thom Schulz and Laura Coats, Miles won a silver medal in individual eventing at the 2008 Summer Olympics.
Thomas Franklin "Tom" Gayford is a retired Canadian equestrian. He was educated at the University of Toronto Schools. He competed at the 1952 and 1960 Olympics in the individual and team three-day events, but failed to finish. At the 1968 Olympics he won a gold medal in show jumping with the Canadian team.
John Michael Plumb is an American equestrian and Olympic champion who competes in the sport of three-day eventing. He holds the title of the US Olympic competitor who has competed in the greatest number of Olympics, winning two team gold medals, three team silvers and one individual silver.
Michel Vaillancourt is a Canadian show jumper who won an individual silver medal at the 1976 Olympics. He tied for second place with Debbie Johnsey and François Mathy, but won the silver in a jump-off. Vaillancourt finished in fifth place with the Canadian team.
Margie Goldstein-Engle is an American show jumping equestrian, and a 10-time American Grandprix Association Rider of the Year.
The individual show jumping in equestrian at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich was held at Olympic Stadium on 3 September. It was open to men and women. There were 54 competitors from 21 nations, with two additional non-starters. The event was won by Graziano Mancinelli of Italy, the nation's first victory in individual jumping since 1960 and third overall, tying France for most of all nations. Great Britain extended its podium streak in the event to four Games with Ann Moore's silver. The United States reach the podium for a second straight Games as Neal Shapiro took bronze.
Kathryn Hallowell "Kathy" Kusner is an American equestrian and Olympic medalist in show jumping. She was one of the first woman who rode for the United States Equestrian Team (USET), the first licensed female jockey, and the first American women to win an Olympic medal in equestrian competition.
Yvonne Saunders-Mondesire is a Canadian former track and field athlete. A versatile athlete, she competed in women's pentathlon, long jump, high jump, 400 metres and 800 metres. She competed internationally for Canada, Jamaica, and England during her career.