Oliver Townend
Oliver Townend (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]
| Oliver Townend | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Oliver Townend and Cooley Master Class, 2019 European Eventing Championship | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality |  | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Discipline | Eventing | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 15 November 1982 Huddersfield, Yorkshire | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Biography
Townend won the junior newcomers showjumping at the Horse of the Year Show with Cool Mule aged 11,[7] 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.[8] His father was also an event rider and his mother showed side-saddle.[8]
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".[9]
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*** | ||||||
| EL = Eliminated; RET = Retired; WD = Withdrew | ||||||||||
CCI 5* Results
| Results | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event | Kentucky | Badminton | Luhmühlen | Burghley | Pau | Adelaide | ||||||
| 2005 | 12th (Topping) | |||||||||||
| 2006 |  31st (Topping) |
EL (Topping) | ||||||||||
| 2007 | EL (Tom Cruise II)
WD (Flint Curtis) |
RET (Saxon Cross)
RET (Waterbeck Basil) |
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| 2008 | 12th (Coup de Coeur) | RET (Flint Curtis) | RET (Clover Curtis)
EL (Divine Inspiration) |
|||||||||
| 2009 | 8th (Carousel Quest) | |
15th (Sportsfield Sandyman)
17th (Golden Hue) WD (Jackson D'Allez) |
|
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) |
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| 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 | |
4th (Black Tie) | 8th (Armada) | |||||||||
| 2015 | 11th (Armada) | 11th (Dromgurrihy Blue)
23rd (Armada) 32nd (Samuel Thomas II) |
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| 2016 | 25th (Armada)
RET (Black Tie) |
RET (Dromgurrihy Blue)
WD (Black Tie) |
7th (Samuel Thomas II)
23rd (Dromgurrihy Blue) RET (MHS King Joules) |
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| 2017 | 16th (ODT Ghareeb)
25th (Samuel Thomas II) |
18th (Black Tie) | 12th (Samuel Thomas II) |
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| 2018 | 7th (MHS King Joules) |
5th (Ballaghmor Class) |
12th (Willingapark Cooley) WD (MHS King Joules) |
EL (Cillnabradden Evo) | ||||||||
| 2019 | |
6th (Cillnabradden Evo) |
|
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| EL = Eliminated; RET = Retired; WD = Withdrew | ||||||||||||
References
- "Oliver Townend". Horse & Hound.
- "Athlete Performance". FEI Database.
- "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.
- "Oliver Townend: My kingdom for a horse". Financial Times.
- "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.