Laura Collett (born 31 August 1989) is a British

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 ...

who competes in

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 ...

Early life and career

Collett won the supreme pony title at

Horse of the Year Show The Horse of the Year Show - also known as HOYS (pronounced /hois/)- was founded to be a culmination of the British equestrian events year. The Show was the idea of Captain Tony Collings and was realised by the then Chairman of BSJA (now British ...

in 2003 when she was 13. She won nine medals during her youth career, including three individual golds, in the juniors in 2006 on Fernhill Sox, in the juniors in 2007 on Rayef, and the young riders in 2009 again on Rayef.

Career

Laura has been selected for three

European Eventing Championships The European Eventing Championships, like most other European Championships, is held every two years. Today it is a three star eventing Eventing (also known as three day eventing or horse trials) is an equestrian event where a single horse ...

as an individual. She was eliminated on the cross-country on her senior championship debut at Luhmühlen in 2011, but finished 13th at the 2015 championships at

Blair Castle Blair Castle (in Scottish Gaelic: Caisteil Bhlàir) stands in its grounds near the village of Blair Atholl in Perthshire in Scotland. It is the ancestral home of the Clan Murray, and was historically the seat of their chief, the Duke of Atholl, ...

on Grand Manoeuvre. Collett was second at Luhmühlen five-star in 2018 on Mr Bass, but she achieved her first five-star win in October 2020 when she took the title at the Pau Horse Trials, France, riding her own, Keith Scott and Karen Bartlett's horse London 52 and therefore has the honour of winning the only five-star of 2020 because the eventing calendar that year had been decimated by

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. The horse had previously been the 2018 eight- and nine-year-old champion at

Blenheim Horse Trials {{Use dmy dates, date=April 2022 The Blenheim Horse Trials is an annual international three-day event held in the park of Blenheim Palace, at Woodstock, England. It is rated CCI*** (the second highest level of eventing). Blenheim began in 1990, ...

, as well as winning the Event Rider Masters at Chatsworth Horse Trials and the CCI4*-L at the Boekelo Horse Trials, both in 2019. But he had also fallen at the 2019 European Eventing Championships in Luhmühlen having sat third after the

dressage Dressage ( or ; a French term, most commonly translated to mean "training") is a form of horse riding performed in exhibition and competition, as well as an art sometimes pursued solely for the sake of mastery. As an equestrian sport defined b ...

. In 2021, eight years after her near fatal accident, Laura and London 52 were selected to represent Britain at the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

in Tokyo that been delayed by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. She won gold in the team event with

Oliver Townend Oliver David Townend (born 15 November 1982) is a British eventing rider competing at the international three-day level. His wins include team gold at the 2007, 2009 and 2017 European Championships and wins at Badminton Horse Trials, Burghley Ho ...

and Tom McEwen. Collett was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the

2022 New Year Honours The 2022 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrations ...

for services to equestrianism. In 2022, Collett won the Badminton Horse Trials. Riding London 52, she led from start to finish, setting an all time Badminton record finishing score of 21.4.

Personal life

Following a heavy fall from her horse in 2013, Collett had to be resuscitated five times and given an emergency tracheotomy by paramedics after suffering a fractured shoulder, broken ribs, a punctured lung, a lacerated liver and damage to her kidneys. Also, a fragment of her shoulder bone had detached and travelled to her right eye through her blood stream and damaged the optic nerve. She was placed in an induced coma for six days.

International Championship results

CCI5* results

Notable horses

*Fernhill Sox **2006 European Junior Championships - team silver, individual gold *Rayef **2007 European Junior Championships - team & individual gold **2009 European Young Rider Championships - team & individual gold *Fernhill Cristal **2010 European Young Rider Championships - team gold, individual 8th *Mr Bass **2015 World Young Horse champion **2018 Luhmühlen 5* runner up *London 52 **2018 Blenheim 4* 8&9 year old winner **2020 Pau 5* winner **2021 Olympic Games - team gold, individual 9th **2022 Badminton 5* winner **Badminton 5* finishing score record holder (21.4)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Collett, Laura 1989 births Living people British female equestrians British event riders Equestrians at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in equestrian Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain Olympic equestrians for Great Britain Members of the Order of the British Empire Sportspeople from Leamington Spa