Andrew Nicholson

Andrew Nicholson is one of New Zealand's all-time great horsemen - a three-time Olympic medallist considered by some as the most prolific event rider in the sport's history.

A six-time Olympian, he was a silver medallist in the team event in Barcelona 1992, and won bronze in Atlanta 1996 and London 2012 with the New Zealand team. He has competed at all seven World Equestrian Games, and has arguably ridden more horses in more events than any other rider.

His career has been tinged with drama. Perhaps a little cruelly, some New Zealanders who only casually follow equestrian will recall Nicholson for a disastrous ride at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, where his horse Spinning Rhombus knocked over nine show jumping fences, dropping New Zealand to silver behind Australia.

Then in August 2015, he seriously injured his neck in a horror fall at Gatcombe, where surgeons told him he was lucky not to be paralysed. But he was back in the saddle by the end of that year, and winning at three-star events in 2016.

The third of six children, Nicholson was born in Te Awamutu in 1961 and was brought up on a farm in Kihikihi in Waikato. On leaving school, he joined his brother, who was retraining racehorses and rode for local racehorse trainers.

Nicholson journeyed to England in 1980 aged 19 and his first job was grooming for Mark Todd and Southern Comfort at Badminton (which they won). Within four years Nicholson had been selected for the New Zealand team for the 1984 Olympic Games. 

At those games, where Todd won the Olympic three-day eventing gold medal on Charisma, Nicholson finished 28th on Kahlua. Like Todd, Nicholson based himself in England, where he enjoyed continued success as a rider and horse trainer. 

He really announced himself on the world stage when he was a member of the New Zealand team – riding Spinning Rhombus – that won the world team title at Stockholm in 1990. 

Following an impressive cross-country ride on Spinning Rhombus at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, Nicholson began the show-jumping section of the three-day event knowing that his horse could knock over seven fences and still the New Zealanders would win the team gold medal. 

But Spinning Rhombus had a nightmare round, knocking over nine fences and the New Zealand team, which also included Vicky Latta and Blyth Tait (Mark Todd was in the team, but was ineligible for a medal because he did not complete the event), slipped to the silver medal position behind Australia. Nicholson, who'd been flying high in the individual competition, plunged to 16th. The injustice of it all was that the popular Nicholson was such an outstanding event competitor. 

Nicholson had a mixed time of it at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. He and Buckley Province didn't fare too well in the individual event, and the horse had to be retired. But in the team event, Nicholson, riding Jagermeister II, played a big part in the New Zealand team (also including Latta, Tait and Vaughn Jefferis) securing the bronze medal.