Robert Blyth Tait (born 10 May 1961) is a New Zealand

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 ...

. Tait has competed at four Olympics and has won four medals, one of only four New Zealanders to do so.Biography at New Zealand Olympic Committee website
/ref> Tait's first success at international level was at the 1990 World Equestrian Games in Stockholm, when he won Gold in both the individual and team events riding Messiah. At the 1992 Olympics in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, he won Bronze in the individual event after teammate Vicky Latta knocked down a rail in the showjumping, and Silver in the team event with Latta and Andrew Nicholson ( Mark Todd was also in the team but was not awarded a medal as he did not finish the event). 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, ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, he won Gold in the individual and Bronze in the Team event. Tait repeated his World Championships double Gold effort at

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

in 1998 riding

Ready Teddy "Ready Teddy" is a song written by John Marascalco and Robert Blackwell, and first made popular by Little Richard in 1956. Little Richard sang and played piano on the recording, backed by a band consisting of Lee Allen (tenor saxophone), Alvin ...

. He was flag-bearer for the New Zealand team at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 ( Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from ...

, but he was eliminated in both the individual and team events. Tait completed his competitive Olympic career with a fifth in the team event at the 2004 Summer Olympics in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

. He was the eventing manager for the 2008 Summer Olympics. In the

1993 Queen's Birthday Honours The 1993 Queen's Birthday honours were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as part of the Queen's ...

, Tait was appointed a 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 ...

, for services to equestrian sport.

Olympic record

* 1992: individual bronze; team silver (both on ''Messiah'') * 1996: individual gold (on ''Ready Teddy''); team bronze (on ''Chesterfield'') *

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

: individual did not finish (on ''Welton Envoy''); team did not finish (on ''Ready Teddy'') * 2004: individual 18th; team 5th (both on ''Ready Teddy'')

Personal life

Tait is homosexual.

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tait, Blyth 1961 births Living people New Zealand event riders New Zealand gay men New Zealand LGBT sportspeople Olympic bronze medalists for New Zealand Olympic equestrians for New Zealand New Zealand male equestrians Olympic gold medalists for New Zealand Olympic medalists in equestrian Olympic silver medalists for New Zealand Equestrians at the 1992 Summer Olympics Equestrians at the 1996 Summer Olympics Equestrians at the 2000 Summer Olympics Equestrians at the 2004 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Whangārei Gay sportsmen LGBT equestrians Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics 21st-century New Zealand LGBT people