Daniel Bluman (born 15 March 1990) is a Colombian-born Israeli Olympic show jumping rider. In July 2019 Bluman, as part of Israel's four-rider squad, qualified to represent

Israel at the 2020 Summer Olympics Israel competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo with its largest contingent to date − a delegation of 90 athletes, 55 men and 35 women, who competed in 15 different sports. This was almost double the previous number of 47 athletes who repre ...

in Tokyo.

Early and personal life

Bluman was born in Medellín, Colombia. His father, Samuel, is an entrepreneur, and his mother, Orly, is an Israeli psychologist and social worker. He has a brother, Steven. His Polish-born Jewish grandfather on his father's side, a

Holocaust survivor Holocaust survivors are people who survived the Holocaust, defined as the persecution and attempted annihilation of the Jews by Nazi Germany and its allies before and during World War II in Europe and North Africa. There is no universally accep ...

whose entire family was murdered, was in the Auschwitz concentration camp for three years and later emigrated to Colombia. His father's family is from Poland and Holland. His grandfather on his mother's side is Israeli, and his mother's family is from Israel and Hungary. Bluman attended Hebrew school growing up. When he was ten years old, he moved with his family to South Florida in the United States. An alumnus of

Cypress Bay High School Cypress Bay High School is a public high school located in Weston, Florida open for students in grades 9−12. Cypress Bay is part of the Broward County Public Schools district. The school offers a wide variety of academic pursuits including 33 ...

Weston, Florida Weston is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States, just west of Fort Lauderdale. It is part of the Miami metropolitan area, which is anchored by Miami. The population was 68,107 at the 2020 census. Weston is 30 miles northwest of Miam ...

, Bluman earned an associate degree in business from

Florida Atlantic University Florida Atlantic University (Florida Atlantic or FAU) is a public research university with its main campus in Boca Raton, Florida, and satellite campuses in Dania Beach, Davie, Fort Lauderdale, Jupiter, and Fort Pierce. FAU belongs to the 12-ca ...

, attending on a full scholarship. In 2016 Bluman married Ariel Epstein, an amateur rider who also represents Israel in competition. The two have two sons, Avi, who was born in October 2018, and Eli, who was born in January 2020.

Riding career

Bluman started riding horses at age three. In 2004, he won the Gold Medal FEI Children World Championship at 16 years of age. In 2007 Bluman moved to

Wellington, Florida Wellington is a village just west of West Palm Beach in Palm Beach County and north of Miami. As of 2019, the city had a population of 65,398 according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates, making it the most populous village in the state. It is th ...

, where he started his professional riding career. Bluman relocated to Belgium in 2013, where he trained with

Nelson Pessoa Nelson Pessoa Filho (born December 16, 1935) is a Brazilian equestrian who competed in the sport of Show jumping. He was among the first Brazilian civilians to do well in the sport, as the military had dominated it in the Brazil of that er ...

for two years.

Representing Colombia

Bluman competed at three

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 ...

: the 2010 World Equestrian Games in Lexington, the 2014 World Equestrian Games in Caen, and the 2018 World Equestrian Games in Tryon. He also participated at several regional games, including the

2011 Pan American Games The 2011 Pan American Games, officially the XVI Pan American Games, was an international multi-sport event that was held from October 14–30, 2011, in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. Some events were held in the nearby cities of Ciudad Guzmán, ...

in Guadalajara (at which he finished 7th) and the

2015 Pan American Games Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16 *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music * Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak al ...

. He was a 2014 team gold medalist at the

Central American and Caribbean Games The Central American and Caribbean Games (CAC or CACGs) are a multi-sport regional championship event, held quadrennial (once every four years), typically in the middle (even) year between Summer Olympics. The games are for countries in Cent ...

in Veracruz, a bronze medalist at the 2016 LGCT Grand Prix of Hamburg, and a bronze medalist at the 2016 LGCT Grand Prix of Chantilly. Representing Colombia, Bluman competed at two Summer Olympics: the 2012 Summer Olympics in London and the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. His best Olympic result came in 2012 when he placed 20th individually in jumping as one of the youngest competing riders.

Representing Israel

Bluman has been riding on behalf of Israel since late 2016. He said

"Through it all, the one thing that has always remained with me is my culture; what it means to be Jewish and to come from a family who has had to go through the Holocaust. Israel means a lot to me. Israel is a country that accepts every person — it doesn't matter your sexual orientation, your race, your religion, your ideas. It's a country that embraces you without prejudice … This is an amazing philosophy of life from an area of the world where living is not so easy. I'm very proud and emotional when I think about representing the Israeli flag."

He was named the 2018 Rider of the Year by ''L'Annee Hippique''. In May 2019, Bluman won the Rolex Grand Prix at CSIO Rome di Siena. In July 2019, Bluman, Ashlee Bond, Danielle G. Waldman, and Elad Yaniv won the Olympic Jumping Qualifier at Maxima Park in Moscow, qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics, the first time that Israel has earned a place in the Olympics in equestrian. However, due to a technicality regarding the registration of his horse Gemma W, Bluman was deemed ineligible to compete just weeks prior to the start of the competition. He won the Grand Prix at the Hampton Classic Horse Show in 2017 on Ladriano Z and again in 2021 on Gemma W.

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bluman, Daniel Living people 1990 births Colombian male equestrians Israeli equestrians Equestrians at the 2012 Summer Olympics Equestrians at the 2016 Summer Olympics Equestrians at the 2011 Pan American Games Equestrians at the 2015 Pan American Games Olympic equestrians of Colombia Central American and Caribbean Games gold medalists for Colombia Competitors at the 2014 Central American and Caribbean Games Sportspeople from Medellín Israeli people of Colombian-Jewish descent Israeli people of Polish-Jewish descent Israeli people of Dutch-Jewish descent Israeli people of Hungarian-Jewish descent Colombian Jews Colombian people of Polish-Jewish descent People of Dutch-Jewish descent People of Hungarian-Jewish descent Florida Atlantic University alumni People from Wellington, Florida Colombian people of Israeli descent Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in equestrian Pan American Games competitors for Colombia