Nick Skelton

Nick Skelton CBE
Personal information
Full name	Nicholas David Skelton
Nationality	British
Discipline	Show jumping
Born	(1957-12-30) 30 December 1957 (age 59) Bedworth, Warwickshire, England
Medal record Representing  Great Britain Equestrian Showjumping Olympic Games 2012 London Team Jumping 2016 Rio de Janeiro Individual jumping Alternative Olympics 1980 Rotterdam Team jumping World Championships 1986 Aachen Team jumping 1982 Dublin Team jumping 1986 Aachen Individual jumping 1990 Stockholm Team jumping 1998 Rome Team Jumping European Championships 1985 Dinard Team jumping 1987 St Gallen Team jumping 1989 Rotterdam Team jumping 1991 La Baule Team jumping 1993 Gijon Team jumping 1995 St Gallen Team jumping 1987 St Gallen Individual jumping 2011 Madrid Team jumping 2011 Madrid Individual jumping Junior European Championships 1975 Dornbirn Individual jumping 1974 Lucerne Team jumping 1975 Dornbirn Team jumping

Nicholas David Skelton, CBE (born 30 December 1957, Bedworth, Warwickshire) is a British equestrian who competes in show jumping. He began riding at age 18 months and in 1975 took two team silvers and an individual gold at the Junior European Championships. He has competed numerous times at the European Show Jumping Championships, winning three golds, three silvers and three bronzes both individually and with the British team over a 26-year time period. In 1980 he competed in the Alternative Olympics where he helped the British team to a silver medal. He currently holds the British Show Jumping High Jump record, which he set in 1978.

In 2012, at the age of 54, Skelton won the Olympic gold medal as part of the winning Great Britain team. In 2016, at the age of 58, Skelton won the Individual Olympic gold medal at his seventh Olympic Games.

Skelton was educated at Bablake School in the city of Coventry in Central England.

Nick Skelton began riding aged 18 months when he got his first pony, a Welsh Mountain called Oxo who was born in the same year as Skelton and lived to be 39; both Skelton's children learnt to ride on Oxo. Skelton rode in pony classes with little tuition before taking his pony to Ted and Liz Edgar for help when he was 14. He worked for and helped at The Edgars for two years before leaving school with no qualifications to work full-time for them. Skelton had plenty of early success with a horse called Maybe, but he went lame just before the Junior European Championships in 1975 and his place in the team looked lost, however O.K a reputedly ordinary horse substituted and Skelton won individual gold. After this Skelton began riding more of the Edgar horses, and in 1978 jumped just over 7 foot 7 inches to set a new British record at Olympia with Lastic. When Skelton partnered with St James the following year he broke into the senior GB team, of which he has been an integral part ever since.

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