Hugh Thomas is a British former Olympic equestrian rider, technical delegate, course designer and event organiser.

Career

Hugh's career began in the Hampshire Hunt Pony Club. As a rider, he won bronze in the Eventing World Championships in 1974, came second place at Badminton Horse Trials in 1976 and competed in the

1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phi ...

.The Daily Telegraph
/ref> Hugh then was a BBC commentator on equestrian sports and worked for British Equestrian Promotions. He designed the course at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

, was FEI technical delicate at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

and was chairman of the

British Equestrian Federation British Equestrian (previously The British Equestrian Federation) founded 1972 is the national governing body of equestrian sport in Great Britain and represents the country at the International Federation for Equestrian Sports (FEI). Her Maje ...

for three years. In 1988, Hugh became Course Designer and Director of

Badminton Horse Trials The Badminton Horse Trials is a eventing, five-day event, one of only six annual Concours Complet International, Concours Complet International (CCI) Five Star events as classified by the International Federation for Equestrian Sports, Fédér ...

, the largest paid-entry sports event in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

and the second largest in the world. In the run up to the London Olympics, in June 2012, in protest at the decision by

LOCOG The London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) was the organisation responsible for overseeing the planning and development of the 2012 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games. It was jointly established by the UK Gov ...

to ban spectators from attending the horse inspections in violation of FEI rules, Thomas resigned his position as a member of the ''ad hoc'' committee, branding it as "disgraceful". He had previously fought to ensure the inspection was open in two previous games with this announcement going viral.The Daily Telegraph
/ref> In 2019, he was awarded the BEWA Lifetime Achievement Award.

Personal life

Hugh Thomas is the godfather of Zara Philips.

References

External links

sports-reference.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Hugh 1948 births Living people British male equestrians Olympic equestrians of Great Britain Equestrians at the 1976 Summer Olympics