Cian O'Connor

The double European medallist tells Penny Richardson why missing Rio is now in the past, and why Ireland is hungrier than ever for victory on the world stage

- Penny Richardson

CIAN O’CONNOR is a man with a plan. He may still be on a high after his clear round under pressure secured European team gold for Ireland’s show jumpers, but for the man from Tara in Co. Meath, both this and his individual bronze medal were steps on the road to the 2020 Olympics.

“Gothenburg was fantastic, but the Olympic Games are where it’s at,” he says. “We still have to qualify, but unlike the past three Olympics where we didn’t even have a team, other nations now fear us. The ethos has changed completely and instead of going to the World Equestrian Games [WEG] next year looking for Olympic qualification, we’re now saying: ‘Let’s win it’.”

UNLIKE many of today’s top riders, Cian hasn’t come from an equestrian background and much of his success is down to sheer hard work. He was born in Dublin and started riding aged 14 with his businessman father.

“My first competition experience was in hunter trials,” he explains. “I enjoyed riding from the start and it was because of the love of horses that I carried on. Then you win a bit and get that hunger for more.”

Cian possibly inherited “that hunger” from his maternal grandfather, Karl Mullen, a great rugby union player who captained his national team and the British Lions.

“I didn’t get any of his sporting talent though. I played rugby at school, but I wasn’t very good,” laughs Cian.

When Cian started his first yard aged just 18, he had the best of “backroom boys” in his trainer, Gerry Mullins, a double showjumping Olympian and former commanding officer of the Irish Army Equitation School.