Richard John Hannay Meade (4 December 1938 – 8 January 2015) was Britain's most successful male

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 ...

at the Olympics. He was a triple

Olympic gold medal Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

ist and the first British rider to win an individual Olympic title. He also won five

World Championship 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, ...

medals, including team golds in 1970 and 1982.

Biography

Early life

Meade was born in

Chepstow Chepstow ( cy, Cas-gwent) is a town and community in Monmouthshire, Wales, adjoining the border with Gloucestershire, England. It is located on the tidal River Wye, about above its confluence with the River Severn, and adjoining the western ...

Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( cy, Sir Fynwy) is a county in the south-east of Wales. The name derives from the historic county of the same name; the modern county covers the eastern three-fifths of the historic county. The largest town is Abergavenny, with ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. His parents, John and Phyllis (née Watts) were joint masters of the Curre Hounds at

Itton Itton ( cy, Llanddinol), is a small village in Monmouthshire, south-east Wales, in the community of Devauden about north-west of Chepstow. The village covers about a radius, with about 70 properties across a rural area. The parish also include ...

and set up Britain's first

Connemara Connemara (; )( ga, Conamara ) is a region on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of western County Galway, in the west of Ireland. The area has a strong association with traditional Irish culture and contains much of the Connacht Irish-speak ...

stud. He was educated at

Lancing College Lancing College is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in southern England, UK. The school is located in West Sussex, east of Worthing near the village of Lancing, on the south coast of England. ...

and

Magdalene College, Cambridge Magdalene College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mary ...

, where he read Engineering and was a member of the

Hawks' Club The Hawks' Club is a members-only social club for sportsmen at the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1872, the club represents the best sportsmen in the University of Cambridge. Membership is by election only, and the usual criterion is that th ...

. He served in the

11th Hussars The 11th Hussars (Prince Albert's Own) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army established in 1715. It saw service for three centuries including the First World War and Second World War but then amalgamated with the 10th Royal Hussars (Pri ...

and briefly worked in the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

before embarking on a life committed to the equestrian sphere.Richard Meade
sports-reference.com

Equestrian career

Throughout his

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 ...

career Meade was the outstanding rider of his time and the lynchpin of British teams for 21 years. In 1964, he won the

Burghley Horse Trials The Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials is an annual three-day event held at Burghley House near Stamford, Lincolnshire, England, currently in early September. Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials is classified by the FEI as one of the six leading th ...

on Barberry. Meade was a member of Britain's

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

winning team at both the 1968 and

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 Solar time, me ...

Summer Olympics, and also won the individual gold in 1972. He also competed in the

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

and 1976 Olympics, as well as the substitute competition in Fontainebleau during the partial boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics. Meade also won two

gold medals and three silver medals, as well as three European Championship gold medals and two bronze medals. He twice won the

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 ...

, in 1970 on The Poacher and in 1982 on Speculator III. Following the

Munich massacre The Munich massacre was a terrorist attack carried out during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany, by eight members of the Palestinian people, Palestinian militant organization Black September Organization, Black September, who i ...

during the 1972 Olympic games, Meade was flown back to London to read a lesson at the memorial service for the victims. He then returned to carry the

union flag The Union Jack, or Union Flag, is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. Although no law has been passed making the Union Flag the official national flag of the United Kingdom, it has effectively become such through precedent. ...

during the

closing ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly-constructed location or the start of an event.

of the games. Meade excelled at the major events and championships; in four Olympic games he never finished out of the top eight places. When he retired he was 6th in the list of the most successful British Olympians of all time across all sports; he is currently equal 11th. Despite winning both the team gold and the individual gold medals at Munich in 1972, he felt that his greatest Olympic memory was four years earlier at

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

where Britain won the team gold in very difficult conditions after intense rainfall. He felt his best performance was at the 1976

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

games riding Jacob Jones, who was a relatively cautious horse; they finished 4th individually.

Honours and awards

He was voted

BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year The BBC Cymru Wales Sports Personality of the Year is a televised sporting competition, broadcast on BBC Two every year; and the most prestigious annual Sport in Wales, sport award in Wales. It was first awarded in 1954, and is currently organise ...

in 1972. The same year he came third in the

BBC Sports Personality of the Year The BBC Sports Personality of the Year is an awards ceremony that takes place annually in December. Devised by Paul Fox in 1954, it originally consisted of just one, the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award. Several new awards have been i ...

and was a member of the

Team of the Year Team of the Year may refer to: * BBC Sports Personality of the Year Team Award * Canadian Press Team of the Year Award *GPA Gaelic Team of the Year * IRB International Sevens Team of the Year * IRB International Team of the Year * J.League Team of ...

. In 1974 he was appointed an OBE for services to sport. In 1996 he was inducted into the

Welsh Sports Hall of Fame The Welsh Sports Hall of Fame (WSHOF) is a charitable organisation created to commemorate the sporting achievements and preserve the artefacts of Welsh athletes. It was established in 1980 from the memorabilia collection of Welsh radio commentato ...

Positions and career after competing

After his retirement from competing, Meade was a dedicated contributor to the equestrian world. He served on the

British Horse Society The British Horse Society (BHS) is a membership-based equine charity, with a stated vision of "a Society which provides a strong voice for horses and people and which spreads awareness through support, training and education". It currently has m ...

’s Council and was Chairman of the British Horse Foundation. He was also formerly President 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 ...

, a member of the

International Equestrian Federation The International Federation for Equestrian Sports (, FEI) is the international governing body of equestrian sports. The FEI headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland. An FEI code of conduct protects the welfare of the horses from physical abu ...

’s (FEI) Eventing Committee and then a Bureau Member and Chairman of its Northern European Group of Nations. He served on the sport's governing body in the UK (now

British Eventing British Eventing (BE) is the Great Britain governing body for the equestrianism, equestrian sport of eventing, which combines a single rider and horse pairing competing in dressage, showjumping and Cross-country equestrianism, cross country. The ...

) continuously for over 30 years until after its reorganisation in 1996 when he was made a Vice President. He was an FEI Judge and Course Designer, roles that took him all over the world. He was also a well-respected judge of show horses. Latterly, Meade worked as an equestrian

expert witness An expert witness, particularly in common law countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States, is a person whose opinion by virtue of education, training, certification, skills or experience, is accepted by the judge as ...

and continued to train riders from his home in

South Gloucestershire South Gloucestershire is a unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, South West England. Towns in the area include Yate, Chipping Sodbury, Thornbury, Filton, Patchway and Bradley Stoke, the latter three forming part ...

Fox-hunting

In 2001, the

RSPCA The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) is a charity operating in England and Wales that promotes animal welfare. The RSPCA is funded primarily by voluntary donations. Founded in 1824, it is the oldest and largest a ...

expelled Meade for organising a campaign to encourage supporters of

fox hunting Fox hunting is an activity involving the tracking, chase and, if caught, the killing of a fox, traditionally a red fox, by trained foxhounds or other scent hounds. A group of unarmed followers, led by a "master of foxhounds" (or "master of ho ...

to join so as to put pressure on the society to change its policy.

Personal life

Around 1970 Meade was briefly linked to

Princess Anne Anne, Princess Royal (Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise; born 15 August 1950), is a member of the British royal family. She is the second child and only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the only sister of K ...

. In 1977 he married Angela Dorothy Farquhar. In 1979 they had a son, Charles, who died aged seven months. They had three more children: James (b. 1981),

Harry Harry may refer to: TV shows * ''Harry'' (American TV series), a 1987 American comedy series starring Alan Arkin * ''Harry'' (British TV series), a 1993 BBC drama that ran for two seasons * ''Harry'' (talk show), a 2016 American daytime talk show ...

(b. 1983), and Lucy (b. 1985). On 14 September 2013, his son, James Meade, married Lady Laura Marsham, daughter of Julian Charles Marsham, 8th Earl of Romney, at St Nicholas' Church in

Gayton, Norfolk Gayton is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is located east of King's Lynn and north-west of Norwich, along the Gaywood River and the B1145 between King's Lynn and Mundesley. History Gayton's name is of ...

Prince William, Duke of Cambridge William, Prince of Wales, (William Arthur Philip Louis; born 21 June 1982) is the heir apparent to the British throne. He is the elder son of King Charles III and his first wife Diana, Princess of Wales. Born in London, William was educat ...

Prince Harry Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, (Henry Charles Albert David; born 15 September 1984) is a member of the British royal family. He is the younger son of Charles III and his first wife Diana, Princess of Wales. He is fifth in the line of succ ...

, and Pippa Middleton were in attendance at the wedding. James is godfather to

Princess Charlotte of Wales Princess Charlotte of Wales may refer to: * Princess Charlotte of Wales (1796–1817), the only child of George, Prince of Wales, later King George IV of the United Kingdom ** Princess Charlotte of Wales (1812 EIC ship), a ship named after the pri ...

, and Lady Laura is godmother to

Prince Louis of Wales Prince Louis of Wales ( ; Louis Arthur Charles; born 23 April 2018) is a member of the British royal family. He is the third and youngest child, as well as the second son, of William, Prince of Wales, and Catherine, Princess of Wales. Louis ...

. His younger son

, whom Richard greatly supported, is himself a renowned event rider who has competed for Great Britain at the World Championships.

Death

Meade died on 8 January 2015, after receiving treatment for cancer. He was 76.Triple Olympic champion Richard Meade dies aged 76
British Olympic Association. 9 January 2015"Obituary: Triple Olympic gold-medallist Richard Meade"
''BBC'' (9 January 2015). Retrieved on 24 July 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meade, Richard 1938 births 2015 deaths People educated at Lancing College Welsh equestrians Equestrians at the 1964 Summer Olympics Equestrians at the 1968 Summer Olympics Equestrians at the 1972 Summer Olympics Equestrians at the 1976 Summer Olympics Olympic equestrians of Great Britain British male equestrians Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain Welsh Olympic medallists British event riders Officers of the Order of the British Empire English Olympic medallists Olympic medalists in equestrian People from Chepstow Sportspeople from Monmouthshire Alumni of Magdalene College, Cambridge Medalists at the 1972 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1968 Summer Olympics