The United States won more equestrian medals than any other team at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens with a total of 5 medals from six possible opportunities.

For the second time in US Olympic Equestrian history, and the first time in an Olympic games outside of the United States, the US Equestrian Team won team medals in each discipline, Eventing, Dressage and Show Jumping. This was achieved only once before in the 1996 Atlanta Games. 2004 was also the third time the US has won 5 Olympic medals, the previous being at the 1984 Los Angeles Games and the 1932 Los Angeles Games. The five medals won in Athens are the first time the US has achieved this outside of our country, in fact, outside of Los Angeles.

The only medal opportunity missed was in Individual Dressage, and Debbie McDonald came in fourth giving up an individual bronze medal by just 1.014 point.

“I think this speaks to the commitment made to our long-term high performance plan and the focus and dedication of our athletes, our staff, the owners who so generously lent their horses to the team, and the many contributors to the USET Foundation,” said John Long, Chief Executive Officer of the United States Equestrian Federation. “Although we’re very proud, we aren’t going to rest on these laurels. We must keep improving our program with today’s athletes and develop young riders for the future. We have to look far, far down the road.”

US Team members were as follows:

Dressage/Team Bronze
Robert Dover, Lebanon, NJ and Wellington, FL and FBW Kennedy
Debbie McDonald, Hailey, Idaho and Brentina
Guenter Seidel, Del Mar, CA and Aragon
Lisa Wilcox, Cloppenburg, Germany and Relevant

Show Jumping/Team Silver
Chris Kappler, Pittstown, NJ and Royal Kaliber/ Individual Bronze
Peter Wylde, Maastricht, The Netherlands and Fein Cera
Beezie Madden, Cazenovia, NY and Authentic
McLain Ward, Brewster, NY and Sapphire

Eventing/Team Bronze
Darren Chiacchia, Springville, NY and Windfall 2
Julie Burns Richards, Newnan, GA and Jacob Two Two
Kimberly Severson, Keene, VA and Winsome Adante/ Individual Silver
Amy Tryon, Duvall, WA and Poggio II
John Williams, Middleburg, VA and Carrick.


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