Oliver Townend
British equestrian sportsman
| Oliver Townend MBE | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Oliver Townend and Cooley Master Class, 2019 European Eventing Championship | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality |  United Kingdom | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Discipline | Eventing | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1982-11-15) 15 November 1982 (age 41) Huddersfield, Yorkshire, England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Oliver David Townend MBE (born 15 November 1982) is a British eventing rider competing at the international three-day level. His wins include team gold at the 2007, 2009 and 2017 European Championships[1] and wins at Badminton Horse Trials, Burghley Horse Trials, and the Kentucky Three Day Event.[2] He also represented Britain at the World Equestrian Games in 2006 and 2014.[3][4] He was the Event Rider Masters series champion in 2016.[3] He has been eventing's world number one twice, in 2009 and again in 2018,[5] and British number one seven times since 2009.[6]
Biography
Townend was raised in Scapegoat Hill, a small settlement on the moors near Huddersfield in West Yorkshire.[7] He won the junior newcomers showjumping at the Horse of the Year Show with Cool Mule aged 11,[8] rode in the pony European Eventing Championships aged 13[1] and left school at 16 to pursue riding and selling horses professionally. He credits his love of horses to his parents.[9] His father was also an event rider and his mother showed side-saddle.[9]
In 2010, Townend had his horse fall on top of him while participating in the Rolex Kentucky Three Day in Lexington, Kentucky. He broke his collarbone, shoulder bones, sternum and four ribs, but credited the air bag vest with allowing him to leave the hospital after only one day, saying that without the vest he "would be in a box or in America for a month".[10]
Townend presently lives at Ellesmere, Shropshire.[11]
Townend was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2022 New Year Honours for services to equestrianism.[12][13]
Townend has received several cautions or warnings during his career for excessive use of the whip during competitions and has been pulled up for riding excessively tired horses. [1]
International Championship Results
| Results | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Event | Horse | Placing | Notes | ||||||
| 2005 | European Championships | Topping | 43rd | Individual | ||||||
| 2006 | World Equestrian Games | Flint Curtis | 11th | Individual | ||||||
| 2007 | World Young Horse Championships | Master Boy | 21st | CCI** | ||||||
| 2007 | European Championships | Flint Curtis |  | Team | ||||||
| 12th | Individual | |||||||||
| 2009 | Eventing World Cup Final | Flint Curtis | EL | |||||||
| 2009 | European Championships | Flint Curtis | | Team | ||||||
| EL | Individual | |||||||||
| 2014 | World Young Horse Championships | Willingapark Cooley | 9th | CCI** | ||||||
| 2014 | World Equestrian Games | Black Tie | RET | Individual | ||||||
| 2015 | World Young Horse Championships | SRS Chillout | 18th | CCI* | ||||||
| Ridire Dorcha | WD | CCI** | ||||||||
| 2015 | European Championships | Fenyas Elegance | 17th | Individual | ||||||
| 2017 | European Championships | Willingapark Cooley | | Team | ||||||
| WD | Individual | |||||||||
| 2019 | European Championships | Cooley Master Class |  | Team | ||||||
| 9th | Individual | |||||||||
| 2019 | World Young Horse Championships | Miss Cooley | 23rd | CCI*** | ||||||
| 2020 | World Young Horse Championships | Cooley Rosalent | | CCI** | ||||||
| 2021 | Olympic Games | Ballaghmor Class | | Team | ||||||
| 5th | Individual | |||||||||
| World Young Horse Championships | Cooley Rosalent | 7th | CCI*** | |||||||
| 2022 | World Championships | Ballaghmor Class | 4th | Team | ||||||
| 16th | Individual | |||||||||
| EL = Eliminated; RET = Retired; WD = Withdrew | ||||||||||
CCI 5* Results
| Results | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event | Kentucky | Badminton | Luhmühlen | Burghley | Pau | Adelaide | Maryland | Bicton | ||||
| 2005 | 12th (Topping) | |||||||||||
| 2006 |  (Flint Curtis) 31st (Topping) | EL (Topping) | ||||||||||
| 2007 | EL (Tom Cruise II) WD (Flint Curtis) | RET (Saxon Cross) RET (Waterbeck Basil) | ||||||||||
| 2008 | 12th (Coup de Coeur) | RET (Flint Curtis) | RET (Clover Curtis) EL (Divine Inspiration) | |||||||||
| 2009 | 8th (Carousel Quest) | (Flint Curtis) | 15th (Sportsfield Sandyman) 17th (Golden Hue) WD (Jackson D'Allez) | (Carousel Quest) | 8th (Carousel Quest) | |||||||
| 2010 | EL (Ashdale Cruise Master) WD (Master Boy) | 5th (Ashdale Cruise Master) EL (Carousel Quest) | 4th (Carousel Quest) | 13th (Master Boy) | ||||||||
| 2011 | 6th (ODT Sonas Rovatio) | EL (Ashdale Cruise Master) | 7th (Master Boy) | RET (Imperial Master) EL (Neo du Breuil) | ||||||||
| 2012 | RET (Pepper Anne) | 7th (ODT Sonas Rovatio) 8th (Armada) | 4th (Armada) RET (ODT Sonas Rovatio) | EL (ODT Sonas Rovatio) | ||||||||
| 2013 | 34th (Armada) | WD (Armada) | ||||||||||
| 2014 | (Armada) | 4th (Black Tie) | 8th (Armada) | |||||||||
| 2015 | 11th (Armada) | 11th (Dromgurrihy Blue) 23rd (Armada) 32nd (Samuel Thomas II) | ||||||||||
| 2016 | 25th (Armada) RET (Black Tie) | RET (Dromgurrihy Blue) WD (Black Tie) | 7th (Samuel Thomas II) 23rd (Dromgurrihy Blue) RET (MHS King Joules) | |||||||||
| 2017 | 16th (ODT Ghareeb) 25th (Samuel Thomas II) | 18th (Black Tie) | (Ballaghmor Class) 12th (Samuel Thomas II) | |||||||||
| 2018 | (Cooley Master Class) 7th (MHS King Joules) | (Willingapark Cooley) 5th (Ballaghmor Class) | (Ballaghmor Class) 12th (Willingapark Cooley) WD (MHS King Joules) | EL (Cillnabradden Evo) | ||||||||
| 2019 | (Cooley Master Class) | (Ballaghmor Class) 6th (Cillnabradden Evo) | (Ballaghmor Class) | |||||||||
| 2020 | 6th (MHS King Joules) | |||||||||||
| 2021 | (Ballaghmor Class) | 6th (Ridire Dorcha) WD (MHS King Joules) | (Cooley Master Class) | 7th (Tregilder) EL (MHS King Joules) | ||||||||
| 2022 | (Swallow Springs) 5th (Ballaghmor Class) | EL (Tregilder) EL (Swallow Springs) | (As Is) | |||||||||
| 2023 | (Ballaghmor Class) EL (Swallow Springs) | 7th (Swallow Springs) 9th (Tregilder) 27th (Cooley Rosalent) | (Ballaghmor Class) RET (Tregilder) RET (Swallow Springs) | (Tregilder) | (Cooley Rosalent) | |||||||
| EL = Eliminated; RET = Retired; WD = Withdrew | ||||||||||||
Notable Horses
- Flint Curtis
- 2006 Badminton Horse Trials third place
- 2007 & 2009 European Championships – team gold
- 2009 Badminton Horse Trials winner
- Carousel Quest
- 2009 Burghley Horse Trials winner
- Armarda
- 2014 Badminton Horse Trials runner up
- Willingapark Cooley
- 2017 European Championships – team gold
- 2018 Badminton Horse Trials runner up
- Cillnabraden Evo
- Badminton 5* dressage record holder (19.7)
- Ballaghmor Class
- 2017 Burghley Horse Trials winner
- 2018 Burghley Horse Trials runner up
- 2019 Badminton Horse Trials runner up
- 2019 Burghley Horse Trials runner up
- 2021 Kentucky Horse Trials winner
- 2020 Olympic Games – team gold, individual 5th
- 2023 Badminton Horse Trials runner up
- 2023 Burghley Horse Trials winner
- Cooley Master Class
- 2018 & 2019 Kentucky Horse Trials winner
- 2019 European Championships – team silver, individual 9th
- 2021 Maryland Horse Trials runner up
- Swallow Springs
- 2022 Badminton Horse Trials third place
- As Is
- 2022 Maryland Horse Trials third place
- Cooley Rosalent
- 2020 World Young Horse 6 Year Old runner up
- 2023 Maryland Horse Trials third place
- Tregilder
- 2023 Pau 5* runner up
References
- ^ a b "Oliver Townend". Horse & Hound.
- ^ "Athlete Performance". FEI Database.
- ^ a b "OLIVER TOWNEND". Event Rider Masters.
- ^ "WEG cross-country: what happened where?". Horse and Country.
- ^ "OLIVER TOWNEND IS NEW NUMBER ONE IN THE FEI WORLD EVENTING RANKINGS". Team GBR Equestrian.
- ^ "Townend enjoying 'best days' and door still open for Team GB". Yorkshire Post.
- ^ Chadband, Ian (18 April 2010). "From 'Hillbilly' to the peaks of perfection" (PDF). The Sunday Telegraph.
- ^ "Oliver Townend: My kingdom for a horse". Financial Times.
- ^ a b "Oliver Townend". Badminton Horse Trials.
- ^ Thomas, Katie (23 August 2010). "Equestrians' Latest Safety Option Is the Air Bag". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
- ^ "Townend's golden moment". Shropshire Star. 3 August 2021. p. 48.Report of his win at the Tokyo Olympics.
- ^ "No. 63571". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 2022. p. N25.
- ^ "New Year Honours 2022: Jason Kenny receives a knighthood and Laura Kenny made a dame". BBC Sport. 31 December 2021.
External links
- Official website
- Oliver Townend (and here) at FEI
- Oliver Townend at Olympedia
- Oliver Townend at Olympics.com
- Oliver Townend at Team GB
- v
- t
- e
- 1912:
Nordlander, Adlercreutz, Casparsson, Åminne (SWE) - 1920: Mörner, Lundström, von Braun, Dyrsch (SWE)
- 1924:
van der Voort van Zijp, de Mortanges, de Kruijff, Colenbrander (NED) - 1928: de Mortanges, de Kruijff, van der Voort van Zijp (NED)
- 1932:
Thomson, Chamberlin, Argo (USA) - 1936:
Stubbendorf, Lippert, von Wangenheim (GER) - 1948: Henry, Anderson, Thomson (USA)
- 1952: von Blixen-Finecke, Stahre, Frölén (SWE)
- 1956:
Weldon, Rook, Hill (GBR) - 1960:
Morgan, Lavis, Roycroft (AUS) - 1964:
Checcoli, Angioni, Ravano (ITA) - 1968: Allhusen, Meade, Jones (GBR)
- 1972: Meade, Gordon-Watson, Parker, Phillips (GBR)
- 1976:
Coffin, Plumb, Davidson, Tauskey (USA) - 1980:
Blinov, Salnikov, Volkov, Rogozhin (URS) - 1984: Plumb, Stives, Fleischmann, Davidson (USA)
- 1988:
Erhorn, Baumann, Kaspareit, Ehrenbrink (FRG) - 1992: Green, Rolton, Hoy, Ryan (AUS)
- 1996: Schaeffer, Rolton, Hoy, Dutton (AUS)
- 2000: Dutton, Hoy, Tinney, Ryan (AUS)
- 2004:
Boiteau, Lyard, Courrèges, Teulère, Touzaint (FRA) - 2008: Thomsen, Ostholt, Dibowski, Klimke, Romeike (GER)
- 2012: Auffarth, Jung, Klimke, Schrade, Thomsen (GER)
- 2016: Laghouag, Lemoine, Nicolas, Vallette (FRA)
- 2020: Collett, McEwen, Townend (GBR)
