Harvey John Smith (born 29 December 1938) is a former British show jumping champion. Smith was born in the

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...

, and still maintains his stables at Craiglands Farm, High Eldwick,

Bingley Bingley is a market town and civil parish in the metropolitan borough of the City of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, on the River Aire and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, which had a population of 18,294 at the 2011 Census. Bingley railwa ...

, near Bradford. He stood out from the ranks of showjumpers because of his broad accent and blunt manner. His career was often controversial: in 1971 he was disciplined (overturned on appeal) after he gave a "

V sign The ''V sign'' is a hand gesture in which the index and middle fingers are raised and parted to make a V shape while the other fingers are clenched. It has various meanings, depending on the circumstances and how it is presented. When displa ...

" to the judges following a near-perfect round which won him the British Show Jumping Derby for the second year in succession; this act also earned him a 'tongue-in-cheek' part in an advert for Victory V sweets with the slogan 'They've got a kick like a mule!' The expression "Doing a Harvey Smith" entered the English language for giving a V sign. Smith became so famous that he embarked on a brief, but unsuccessful, singing career. In 1975 he released a record with picture sleeve called ''True Love/End of the World'' on Handkerchief HANKY 3. The record failed to chart. His sons,

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

and Steven, also became equestrian champions. Competing in two Summer Olympics, Smith's best finish was fourth in the individual show jumping event at

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using mean solar tim ...

. He later became a television commentator for the

British Broadcasting Corporation #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

, doing

equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or Riding in British English) Examples of this are: * Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes i ...

coverage at the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the sec ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. In 1989 Smith was honoured for being the first man to have jumped in 100 Volvo

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

Qualifying Rounds. During the 1970s in his spare time he competed in

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

Simon Garfield Simon Frank Garfield (born 19 March 1960) is a British journalist and non-fiction author. Biography Garfield was born in London in 1960.Sue Smith Sue Smith may refer to: * Sue Smith (politician) (born 1951), member of the Tasmanian Legislative Council * Sue Smith (footballer) (born 1979), English footballer * Sue Smith (trainer) (born 1948), British horse trainer * Sue Smith (writer), Austra ...

, a former showjumper herself, to form a racing team at their Yorkshire base, Craiglands Farm. Their charge Auroras Encore won the

2013 Grand National The 2013 Grand National (officially known as the John Smith's Grand National for sponsorship reasons) was the 166th annual running of the Grand National horse race at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, England. The showpiece steeplechase, whic ...

References

External links

Horse & Hound
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Harvey 1938 births Living people People from Bingley Olympic equestrians of Great Britain British male equestrians Equestrians at the 1968 Summer Olympics Equestrians at the 1972 Summer Olympics British show jumping riders English male equestrians English male professional wrestlers Sportspeople from Yorkshire