Andrew Clifton Nicholson (born 1 August 1961 in

Te Awamutu Te Awamutu is a town in the Waikato region in the North Island of New Zealand. It is the council seat of the Waipa District and serves as a service town for the farming communities which surround it. Te Awamutu is located some south of Hamilt ...

) is a New Zealand horseman who has competed at six Olympic Games (though selected for seven). Born and raised in the

Waikato Waikato () is a local government region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipa District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton City, as well as Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsul ...

Nicholson moved to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

in the 1980s to further his equestrian career. He currently works there as a horse trainer. Nicholson's greatest success at international level has been in

Three-Day Event 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. This ...

Teams. He won a gold medal at the 1990

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 S ...

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, a silver at the 1992 Olympics in

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and a Bronze at the 1996 Olympics in

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. Although becoming infamous for his ride on Spinning Rhombus at Barcelona. With the New Zealand team having seven rails in hand to win the Gold medal his horse knocked down nine rails, instead of withdrawing as any lesser rider would have, in a colossal display of selflessness and national pride he kept the New Zealand team intact (his withdrawal would have instantly eliminated the entire team by dropping completing member numbers below the minimum required) to scoop the silver medal behind arch-rivals

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. Nicholson competed at the 2010 WEG (world equestrian games) and received a bronze medal. In the

2018 Queen's Birthday Honours The 2018 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as p ...

, Nicholson was appointed an

Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have re ...

, for services to equestrian sport. Nicholson and Mark Todd were the first New Zealanders to compete at six Olympic Games. Nicholson's best individual results have been at Burghley which he has won five times on; * Buckley Province in 1995, * Mr Smiffy in 2000, * Avebury in 2012, 2013 and 2014 consecutively. After winning Burghley 2012 it set off a winning streak for Nicholson going on to win; * Pau 2012 with his Olympic mount Nereo, * Kentucky 2013 on four star debutant Quimbo & * Lumuhlen 2013 on Mr Cruise Control. He also won Badminton Horse Trials with Nereo in 2017, after 36 completions.

CCI 5* Results

International Championship Results

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nicholson, Andrew 1961 births Living people New Zealand male equestrians New Zealand event riders Olympic silver medalists for New Zealand Olympic bronze medalists for New Zealand Olympic equestrians of New Zealand Olympic medalists in equestrian Equestrians at the 1984 Summer Olympics Equestrians at the 1992 Summer Olympics Equestrians at the 1996 Summer Olympics Equestrians at the 2000 Summer Olympics Equestrians at the 2004 Summer Olympics Equestrians at the 2008 Summer Olympics Equestrians at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics People from Te Awamutu Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit Sportspeople from Waikato