Sports
August 21, 2008 09:29 PM
By: John Cudmore
Canada’s Olympics medal equestrian drought is over.
Not surprisingly, then, it was smiles all around Monday from the last Canadian team to score a medal in Olympic competition as Eric Lamaze, Ian Millar, Jill Henselwood and Mac Cone celebrated a silver medal in show jumping following a come-from-behind performance in Hong Kong.
Previous to that, it was 40 years ago in Mexico City when Jim Elder, Tom Gayford and Jim Day surprised the world’s show jumping elite much to the delight of Canadians.
“I expected they had a good shot,” said Gayford, then a Gormley resident, who remains active in the sport and owns Gayland Farm, near Stouffville. “They have a good team and things were going well on Day 1 and they carried it over.
“We are all happy for them. Ian (Millar) and I are very close friends. Everybody roots for each other. We all work for the sport in Canada.”
Certainly, the sport has changed since the 1968 Games, but the Europeans remain powerful.
In Mexico City, the Canadians were longshots to win a medal, Gayford recalled.
Unlike the modern day equestrians, Gayford, Elder, a former Aurora resident now living in Schomberg, and Day did not gallop back-and-forth between North America and Europe for training and competition.
Instead, domestic shows served as their training ground.
“No, we just competed,” said Gayford, who coached the Canadian entry in the 1972 Games, designed the Montreal Olympics jumping course and remained involved with the equestrian team in various capacities, including chef d’equipe, through Barcelona Games in 1992. “We went with the idea of winning and never thought anything else about it.
“Nobody mentions the alternative Olympics we won in Rotterdam (during the boycotted Moscow Games). All the big countries were there, so it was just as big to win.”
Despite 40 years between Olympics podium appearances, Gayford, a stockbroker, is not surprised it took so long for Canadians to return to the top of the equestrian world for Canada.
“No, it’s very tough,” said Gayford, now 79, and the oldest member of his team. ”It’s very hard, like building a football or hockey team. Horses are very expensive now.
“You get a good prospect and develop it, but only for a certain time, before you have to sell it.
“You can’t afford to keep them because you get nothing much from Sport Canada. It’s a pittance for keeping and developing them.
“It’s the same as a lot of other sports in that we don’t get the support as in other countries. We had never been to Europe. We got ready for the big meets at our local horse shows. We had three tough riders and no backup (rider). We were amateurs then. Now, it’s a different world.”
Ironically, Lamaze, Millar and Henselwood were competing against four American riders — the low ride is dropped — when Cone’s horse, Ole, was injured on the first day of the competition.
Gayford was able to imagine the atmosphere experienced by the modern-day silver medal-winning team.
“When we walked in, there were 100,000 people,” he said. “If you lifted your eyes, you’d be mesmerized. It was 20,000 people for these guys, but I’m sure it was the same feeling.”
Lamaze is considered a front-runner in the individual competition today.