IN the white-hot furnace of supremacy that is the Olympic Games, it is easy to forget that for most of the modern Olympics’ 128-year history they were, at least in principle, confined to amateur competitors. The “three values of Olympism” are excellence, respect and friendship, as embodied in the Victorian ideal of the Corinthian: the gentleman amateur sportsman, who competes to test himself and for the love of it.
Perhaps nowhere in horse sport have these attributes been better personified than by Chris Collins, whose exploits in first racing and then eventing while a highly successful businessman in the 1960s and 1970s made headlines far beyond Horse & Hound and the Sporting Life.
Very little is missing from his résumé, which starts with third in the 1965 Grand National and includes being the first Englishman since World War I to win the Pardubice, twice champion amateur jockey, triumphs in both the Aintree and Cheltenham Foxhunters, fourth at Burghley, four top-10 placings at Badminton and five championships as part of the British eventing team. But riding at the Olympics is one box he was never able properly to tick.
“My final competition was on the British team at the 1980 substitute Olympics at Fontainebleau,” he says – an “alternative Olympics” being arranged as then prime minister Margaret Thatcher had ordered all athletes to boycott the main Games in Moscow. “Eventing immediately obeyed without any consultation with the riders, whereas the likes of Seb Coe and Steve Ovett did go.
“Fontainebleau went badly – I had a fall and got knocked out, so didn’t complete. It wasn’t a glorious ending to my riding career,” he says with a smile that still bears a hint of competitive regret 44 years later.
Chris did go to the next Games, in Los Angeles (LA) in 1984, as chairman of selectors, a role he took on after retiring from riding in 1980.
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Denne historien er fra August 08, 2024-utgaven av Horse & Hound.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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'Sorry, but I wasn't feeling it'
Fresh from the opening meet, Tessa Waugh hasn't quite yet been bitten by the hunting bug. Without the crisp autumnal air and cheek-pinching cold she hoped for, it's a sluggish start
New pair pull off a win
A former European Championships pony is on form with his new rider, while elsewhere former showjumpers and eventers take ribbons
Lording it over the rest
Horses who have returned from injury, a second generation homebred and a long format specialist score on the final weekend of the British season
Smith hits flying form
A \"her way or no way\" mare helps Zoe Smith to an impressive ribbon haul and a rider beats his own boss to the top spot
Jankorado hits the jackpot
Paul Sims is triumphant despite his interrupted jump-off preparation and a borrowed horse comes up trumps
Peanut
From \"dangerous, scary\" to hedge-hopping brilliance, hunting has been the making of this unstable but very lovable equine character
She's a corker
Communication, says long-standing and highly respected Belvoir master Lady Sarah McCorquodale, is the key to all, as Catherine Austen discovers
Access all areas Cavalier Centre
The Cavalier Centre is a fully accessible, state-of-the-art equestrian centre designed to improve lives through horse-based activities. Ellie May Forrester pays a visit
'Use it or lose it'
Not everyone wants to reach for the pipe and slippers at a certain age. Becky Murray speaks to some veteran horse-and-rider combos for their secrets of human and equine longevity
A new way forward
Worm control in horses is vital, but established methods will not remain effective for much longer. Tim Mair FRCVS explains why and how we need to change
