Gina Miles (born November 27, 1973) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

eventing Eventing (also known as three day eventing or horse trials) is an equestrian event where a single horse and rider combine and compete against other competitors across the three disciplines of dressage, cross-country, and show jumping. Thi ...

rider. Riding McKinlaigh, owned by Thom Schulz and Laura Coats, Miles won a silver medal in individual eventing at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

Early life

She was born November 27, 1973, in

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

. Miles attended the 1984 Olympics in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, which is where she got her dream of competing herself. In particular, she dreamed of competing in the Three-Day Eventing event. She started teaching when she was 15.

Career

Miles began riding McKinlaigh in 2000. In 2002, she competed with him in the Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event and went on to place in the top 25 in the

World Equestrian Games The FEI World Equestrian Games are the major international championships for equestrianism, and are administered by the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI). The games have been held every four years, halfway between sets of consecutive ...

Also in 2002, she attended the World Equestrian Games in

Jerez, Spain Jerez de la Frontera (), or simply Jerez (), is a Spanish city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality in the province of Cádiz in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, in southwestern Spain, located midway bet ...

, in order to represent the U.S. she In 2003, she won the World Cup Final bronze medal. In 2007, she and McKinlaigh won the individual bronze medal and the team gold in eventing at the

Pan American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...

. They competed in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, winning individual silver in Three-Day Eventing. After the Olympics, Miles spent her time giving back to the equestrian community. She trained other riders through her own facility in

Danville, California The Town of Danville is located in the San Ramon Valley in Contra Costa County, California. It is one of the incorporated municipalities in California that use "town" in their names instead of "city". The population was 43,582 at the 2020 census ...

, Gold Medal Equestrian. She accepted all ages in eventing, show jumping, and dressage. As a former Pony club examiner, she also had her own riding center. In 2015, McKinlaigh was inducted into the United States Eventing Association (USEA) Hall of Fame.

Horse

The horse who won the events: McKinlaigh, Irish Sport horse liver-chestnut

gelding A gelding is a castrated male horse or other equine, such as a pony, donkey or a mule. Castration, as well as the elimination of hormonally driven behavior associated with a stallion, allows a male equine to be calmer and better-behaved, makin ...

by Highland King and out of Kilcumney Hostess. Owned by Gina Miles, Thomas Schulz, and Laura Coats.

Personal

Miles resides in

. Miles is married with two children. She gives clinics to aspiring riders and trains horses for eventing.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Miles, Gina 1979 births Living people American event riders Olympic silver medalists for the United States in equestrian Equestrians at the 2007 Pan American Games Equestrians at the 2008 Summer Olympics American female equestrians Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Davis Senior High School (California) alumni Cal Poly Mustangs athletes Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in equestrian Medalists at the 2007 Pan American Games 21st-century American sportswomen