1. Nick Skelton retired at the age of 59 years old, on 5 April 2017.
21 Facts About Nick Skelton
1. 2.
Nick Skelton began riding at age 18 months and in 1975 took two team silvers and an individual gold at the Junior European Championships.
3.
Nick Skelton 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 26 years.
4.
Nick Skelton currently holds the British show jumping high jump record, which he set in 1978.
5.
In 2012, at the age of 54, Nick Skelton won an Olympic gold medal as part of the Great Britain team.
6.
Nick Skelton was educated at Bablake School in the city of Coventry in Central England.
7.
Nick Skelton rode in pony classes with little tuition before taking his pony to Ted and Liz Edgar for help when he was 14.
8.
Nick Skelton worked for and helped at the Edgars for two years before leaving school with no qualifications to work full-time for them.
9.
Nick 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.
10.
When Nick Skelton partnered with St James the following year he broke into the senior GB team, of which he remained an integral part until his retirement.
11.
In September 2000, Nick Skelton broke his neck in a fall while competing.
12.
Nick Skelton returned to the saddle to partner Arko III, a horse he had ridden before breaking his neck.
13.
Nick Skelton won gold in the 2016 Rio Olympics in the individual category.
14.
Nick Skelton received a nomination for the 2016 BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award.
15.
Nick Skelton was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2017 New Year Honours for services to equestrianism.
16.
Nick Skelton has had many successes at home and abroad and has ridden on over 164 Nations Cups teams.
17.
Nick Skelton has won various medals both as an Individual and as part of the teams in the Olympics, World Championships and European Championships between 1980 and 2016.
18.
Nick Skelton won team gold at his home Olympics in London 2012 with his horse Big Star, alongside Ben Maher, Peter Charles and Scott Brash.
19.
Nick Skelton has two sons with his first wife Sarah Nick Skelton and both are active in horse racing.
20.
Nick Skelton was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2012 Birthday Honours for services to equestrian sport.
21.
In 2001, Nick Skelton published an autobiography, Only Falls And Horses and wrote a second, Gold, in 2018.