McLain Ward and Sapphire Aiming for Second Olympic Gold

August 3, 2008

McLain Ward has been a star on the hunter/jumper circuit since his junior days as an equitation rider. He’s been breaking records since the age of 14, culminating in his contribution to the US Olympic show jumping team’s gold medal at the 2004 Olympics in Athens with Sapphire, also his mount this year.

He’ll be headed back to his second Olympic Games with Sapphire, his 13-year-old Belgian Warmblood mare. She was young and inexperienced when they went to Athens the first time, but goes to Hong Kong a seasoned competitor with significant wins on the international stage.

A Riding Prodigy’s Top Accomplishments

Show jumping seems to be in McLain’s genes as well as his training. His father was a successful show jumper, winning the Grand Prix of Devon exactly 20 years before his son did. McLain was in the saddle making use of four legs before he could even walk on his own two.

When he was 14, McLain won both the USEF Show Jumping Talent Derby and the medal finals, the youngest rider ever to win both in one year. And he didn’t just do it once, he won the pair of competitions from 1990-1992.

After graduating to the Grand Prix circuit, he wasted no time in making a name for himself. In 1999, McLain became the young show jumper in history to hit the $1 million mark in Grand Prix earnings at just 24 years old.

Other Career Highlights

Other than Olympic gold, McLain’s major accomplishments include

team silver at the 2006 World Equestrian Games
team silver at the 2006 Samsung Super League
three individual wins in LaBule , France in 2006 including a speed class with 54 entries which earned him a Best Rider Award for the week
team gold at the 2005 Samsung Super League despite riding with a broken collarbone
team gold a the 2005 US Nations Cup
first with Goldika 559 at the 2004 $100,000 International Open Jumper Presidents Cup Grand Prix
won the 2002 $50,000 USET Show Jumping Championship with Victor
second with Sapphire in the 2004 $100,000 Rolex/USEF Show Jumping Championship
won the CN Worldwide Florida Open Grand Prix with Sapphire

In addition, Ward has competed in 10 FEI World Cup Show Jumping Finals and numerous Nations Cup competitions. He judged the Talent Search Finals East in October 2007. As if all that isn’t enough, McLain was also named American Grand Prix Association (AGA) Rider of the Year for the 2001-2002 competition season.

McLain Ward and Sapphire Win 2008 American Invitational

video by Keil Sirles