Michael R. Matz (born January 23, 1951) 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 ...

race horse trainer and former Olympic equestrian team member who was inducted into the

show jumping Show jumping is a part of a group of English riding equestrianism, equestrian events that also includes dressage, eventing, Show hunter, hunters, and equitation. Jumping classes are commonly seen at horse shows throughout the world, including th ...

Hall of Fame. He lives in

Coatesville, Pennsylvania Coatesville is a city in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 13,350 at the 2020 census. Coatesville is approximately 39 miles west of Philadelphia. It developed along the Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike beginning ...

. As a trainer, he has scored two wins in the Classics, the

2012 Belmont Stakes The 2012 Belmont Stakes was the 144th running of the Belmont Stakes and the race was won by Union Rags ridden by jockey John Velazquez. It was broadcast in the United States by NBC. The post time was scheduled for 6:35 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, ...

with

Union Rags Union Rags (foaled March 3, 2009 in Kentucky) is a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 2012 Belmont Stakes. He also won the Champagne Stakes and the Saratoga Special Stakes Background Union Rags is a bay with a white blaze sir ...

and the 2006 Kentucky Derby with Barbaro. Matz also was named "person of the week" by

ABC News ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...

for his heroism in saving four children from the crash of

United Airlines Flight 232 United Airlines Flight 232 was a regularly scheduled United Airlines flight from Stapleton International Airport in Denver to O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, continuing to Philadelphia International Airport. On July 19, 1989, the DC ...

in 1989 on which he was a passenger.

Equestrian career

Matz had a successful

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 ...

career as a

rider. He was a six-time U.S. national champion, and won at least one major show jumping event in 20 consecutive years. Matz won team gold at the 1986

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

Aachen Aachen ( ; ; Aachen dialect: ''Oche'' ; French and traditional English: Aix-la-Chapelle; or ''Aquisgranum''; nl, Aken ; Polish: Akwizgran) is, with around 249,000 inhabitants, the 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, and the 28th- ...

riding Chef, to go with his individual and team bronze medals he won at the 1978

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 ...

while riding Jet Run on whom Matz also won the 1981

Show Jumping World Cup The FEI Show Jumping World Cup is an annual international competition among the world’s best show jumping horses and riders. The series, created in 1978, today comprises 14 leagues on all continents. The best riders from 132 preliminary competiti ...

. Matz won a total of four gold medals and four bronze medals 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 ...

, and was a member of the U.S. Olympic equestrian teams in

1976 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 Phila ...

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

, and

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

. In 1996, he won a team silver medal on Rhum IV, in the show jumping equestrian event, along with Peter Leone, Leslie Burr-Howard, and

Anne Kursinski Anne Kindig Kursinski (born April 16, 1959) is an American showjumper and two-time Olympic silver medalist in team jumping, at Seoul 1988 and Atlanta 1996. Representing the United States, she was a member of five Olympic teams, forty-seven Nat ...

. Matz was also chosen to carry the

United States flag The national flag of the United States of America, often referred to as the ''American flag'' or the ''U.S. flag'', consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the ca ...

into

Centennial Olympic Stadium Centennial Olympic Stadium was the 85,000-seat main stadium of the 1996 Summer Olympics and Paralympics in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Construction of the stadium began in 1993, and it was complete and ready for the opening ceremony in Ju ...

at the Closing Ceremonies of the 1996 Games. He retired from show jumping as the leading money-winning rider in the sport's American history, with over $1.7 million. On April 1, 2006, Matz was inducted into the Show Jumping Hall of Fame. He began to train

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are c ...

s in 1998, making race horse training his full-time profession after he failed to make the 2000 Olympic team.Richard Rosenblatt
"A Remarkable Tale of a Derby Trainer"
''

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

'', May 1, 2006 He trains at the

Fair Hill Training Center Fair Hill Training Center is a racehorse training center based in Fair Hill, Maryland, Fair Hill, Maryland. It was owned by William du Pont, Jr. of the well-known Du Pont family, who bought the land in 1926. Dupont invested a substantial amount of ...

, in

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. In addition to Barbaro, he trained the 2005

Arlington Million The Arlington Million is a Grade 1 flat horse race in the United States for thoroughbred horses aged three years and upward on the turf. It was originally raced at the now-closed Arlington Park in Arlington Heights, Illinois over a distance of m ...

winner Kicken Kris, and shortly after Barbaro's injury, he returned to the scene of his greatest victory to score another major

Churchill Downs Churchill Downs is a horse racing complex located on Central Avenue in south Louisville, Kentucky, United States, famed for hosting the annual Kentucky Derby. It officially opened in 1875 and was named for Samuel Churchill, whose family was ...

win at the 2006

Breeders' Cup Distaff The Breeders' Cup Distaff is a Weight for Age Thoroughbred horse race for fillies and mares, 3 years old and up. Known as the Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic between 2008 and 2012, it is held annually at a different racetrack in the United States or ...

with Round Pond. In 2012 he trained

to become the winner of the 144th Belmont Stakes.

United Airlines Flight 232

Matz was chosen for the honor of carrying the flag at the 1996 Closing Ceremonies not only because of his career in the show ring, but also for an extraordinary act of heroism seven years before. On July 19, 1989, Matz and his then-fiancée D.D. Alexander were traveling home from judging a horse show in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

. They missed their connection from

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, and had a choice of two flights 20 minutes apart. They chose

. After a catastrophic engine failure that destroyed all of the plane's hydraulic systems, the plane crashed at

Sioux Gateway Airport Sioux Gateway Airport , also known as Colonel Bud Day Field, is a public and military use airport in Woodbury County, Iowa, United States. It is located six nautical miles (7 mi, 11 km) south of the central business district of Sioux ...

Sioux City, Iowa Sioux City () is a city in Woodbury and Plymouth counties in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 85,797 in the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Iowa. The bulk of the city is in Woodbury County, ...

. Although 112 people were killed, Matz not only survived, but led four young children to safety. He first led to safety three siblings who were traveling alone, and then went into the burning wreckage to save an 11-month-old girl. He was named "Person of the Week" by

for his heroism on Flight 232. Matz has remained in touch with the three siblings, who were at Churchill Downs on Derby Day 2006, and met with him during the run-up to the race.

References

External links

Michael Matz Stats and News

NTRA The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) is a broad-based coalition of American horse racing interests consisting of leading thoroughbred racetracks, owners, breeders, trainers and affiliated horse racing associations, charged with incr ...

*
Bio at stadiumjumping.com

Chester County Sports Hall of Fame

Bio at NYRAINC
{{DEFAULTSORT:Matz, Michael 1951 births Living people People from Collegeville, Pennsylvania American show jumping riders American racehorse trainers Equestrians at the 1976 Summer Olympics Equestrians at the 1992 Summer Olympics Equestrians at the 1996 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for the United States in equestrian American male equestrians Survivors of aviation accidents or incidents Equestrians at the 1975 Pan American Games Equestrians at the 1979 Pan American Games Equestrians at the 1983 Pan American Games Equestrians at the 1995 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1975 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1979 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1983 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1995 Pan American Games Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in equestrian Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States in equestrian