Theodora Elisabeth Gerarda "Anky" van Grunsven is a Dutch dressage champion who is the only rider to record three successive Olympic wins in the same event. Along with her Olympic successes, she has won numerous medals at the World Equestrian Games (WEG), and is the only rider to have competed at every WEG since they began in 1990. Between 1990 and 2006, she competed at the Games in dressage, but in 2010 she was named as part of the Dutch reining team, marking a major change in discipline.
Equestrian sports were first included in the Olympic Games in the Summer Olympics of 1900 in Paris. They were again included in 1912, and have been included in every subsequent edition of the Games. Currently, the Olympic equestrian disciplines are dressage, eventing, and show jumping. In each discipline, both individual and team medals are awarded. Since the XV Olympiad in Helsinki in 1952, women and men compete on equal terms.
Isabell Werth is a German equestrian who has competed in dressage at seven Olympic Games —1992, 1996, 2000, 2008, 2016, 2020, 2024— winning the gold medal in the team event in all seven, and one gold and six silver medals in the individual event. She stands alone in having medals from seven Olympics, or across a span of 32 years; her 14 medals are the most for any German or equestrian. She also has numerous titles in the World and European Championships and World Cups.
The European Dressage Championships are the European championships for the equestrian discipline of dressage. They are held every two years in odd-numbered years. Gold, silver, and bronze medals are awarded in both individual and team competitions. There are also championships held for juniors, young riders, and ponies. Since 2015, the competition has shared a site and branding with vaulting, reining, jumping, and driving events. For sponsorship reasons, eventing is not included, as it is part of the FEI European Championships, echoing the combined World Equestrian Games concept. The first official combined event took place in Aachen in 2015.
Nicole Uphoff is a German equestrian who competes in the sport of dressage. She won four gold medals in individual and team competition at the 1988 and 1992 Summer Olympics. Riding her star horse, Rembrandt, Uphoff also won numerous other international competitions, including the World Equestrian Games and the European Dressage Championships.
Edward Gal is a Dutch dressage rider. He and the stallion Totilas, were triple gold medalists at the 2010 FEI World Equestrian Games, becoming the first horse-rider partnership ever to sweep the three available dressage gold medals at a single FEI World Games. Going into the 2010 Games, they had amassed multiple world-record scores in international competition, leading one American journalist to call them "rock stars in the horse world". After the World Equestrian Games, Totilas was sold to German trainer Paul Schockemöhle. Gal continues to be successful training and competing dressage horses at the international level. Despite the success, he has been criticised to be harsh trainer who creates stressed and fearful horses.
Carlos Paro is an event rider who won a team bronze medal in the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2007, a team silver medal in the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada and an Individual Bronze and team Silver in the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru in eventing for Brazil. He has competed in four Olympic games: the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan and the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
The 2010 CHIO Aachen was the 2010 edition of the CHIO Aachen, the German official horse show in five horse sport disciplines.
Totilas, also known from 2006 to 2011 as Moorlands Totilas, and nicknamed "Toto", was a Dutch Warmblood stallion standing 17.1 hands high who was considered to be one of the most outstanding competitive dressage horses in the world, the first horse to score above 90 in dressage competition, and the former holder of the world record for the highest dressage score in Grand Prix Freestyle Dressage.
Rembrandt was a dark bay Westphalian gelding ridden for Germany by Nicole Uphoff in dressage competitions. Together, the pair won four Olympic gold medals, three gold and one silver World Equestrian Games medals, and numerous other international championships. Although known as a sensitive horse prone to spookiness, Rembrandt's elegance and expression in the ring allowed him to become one of the top horses in the sport of dressage.
The 2011 CHIO Aachen was the 2011 edition of the CHIO Aachen, the German official horse show in five horse sport disciplines.
Janne Friederike Meyer is a German rider who competes in show jumping. She was part of the German team winning the gold medal at the 2010 FEI World Equestrian Games. In 2012 Meyer participated in the Summer Olympics in London as part of the German show jumping team with her horse Lambrasco.
Steffen Peters is a German-born equestrian who competes for the United States in dressage. He has participated in five Olympic Games, winning a team bronze medal on two occasions and a team silver medal once (2020). Peters has been successful in numerous other international competitions, including winning team bronze at the 2006 World Equestrian Games, two individual bronze medals at the 2010 World Equestrian Games and individual and team gold medals at both 2011 and 2015 Pan Am Games. The horse upon which he won many of his titles, Ravel, was retired in 2012. After 2012, his international successes came on Legolas. At the beginning of 2017, Peters handed over the ride on Legolas to his assistant rider Dawn White-O'Connor. Peters is currently working with a new international competition horse, Rosamunde.
The 2012 CHIO Aachen was the 2012 edition of the CHIO Aachen, the German official horse show in five horse sport disciplines.
Mary Hanna is an Australian equestrian. She has represented Australia at six Olympic Games in the equestrian discipline of dressage.
Dr. Cesar Parra is a Colombian-American dressage rider and coach.
Grete Ayache , born as Grete Püvi, is an Estonian dressage rider. Representing Estonia, she competed at the 2014 World Equestrian Games and at the 2011 European Dressage Championship. She placed 61st place in individual dressage at the 2011 Europeans held in Rotterdam.
Laura Graves is an American dressage rider. She represented the United States at the 2016 Summer Olympics where she won a bronze medal in the team dressage competition. After winning double silver medals at the 2018 World Equestrian Games in Tryon, NC, Laura became the first American dressage rider to be ranked No. 1 in FEI World rankings, aboard her longtime partner Verdades.
Kelly Layne is an Australian Dressage rider and trainer. She planned on qualifying to represent her country at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. However, Layne was unable to compete in the final qualifying event due to an injury suffered by her horse, Udon P, forcing her to withdraw. While born in Australia, Layne is currently based in Wellington, Florida. Layne also helped found her own riding team, "Dream Team Dressage".
A Concours Hippique International Officiel (CHIO) (from French, meaning "Official International Equestrian Competition") is an FEI-sanctioned horse show with international-level competitors in equestrian sports such as show jumping, dressage, eventing, and combined driving. In a CHIO, there are individual and team competitions. Nation-teams consist of three or four riders from the same country. Only one CHIO may take place in each FEI member country per year, but not all countries have a CHIO. Two notable long-standing CHIOs are CHIO Aachen in Germany (since 1924) and CHIO Rotterdam in Netherlands, which has traditionally taken place at the Kralingse Bos since 1948.
