Robert James Elder, OC (born 27 July 1934) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

retired businessman and former

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 in ...

. He competed at six

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a multi ...

between 1956 and 1984, winning one gold and one bronze medal. He missed the 1964 and 1980 Olympics because Canada did not send eventing and jumping teams there.

Biography

Born in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Elder started competitive jumping at the age of 16 in 1950. During 36 years of competition, he won an Olympic gold medal, one Olympic bronze, five Pan American medals, and a world title. Elder was Canada's flag bearer at the closing ceremony of the

1972 Munich Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...

. In 1983, he was honoured with the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the cen ...

. He was inducted into the

Canada's Sports Hall of Fame Canada's Sports Hall of Fame (french: Panthéon des sports canadiens; sometimes referred to as the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame) is a Canadian sports hall of fame and museum in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Dedicated to the history of sports in Canada ...

(1968),

Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame The Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame is an honour roll of the top Canadian Olympic athletes, teams, coaches, and builders (officials, administrators, and volunteers). It was established in 1949. Selections are made by a committee appointed by the Cana ...

(1971), Canada's Walk of Fame (2003), Canadian Eventing Hall of Fame (2009), and the Jump Canada (2010) Hall of Fame. Elder graduated from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

, where he was a member of the

Delta Kappa Epsilon Delta Kappa Epsilon (), commonly known as ''DKE'' or ''Deke'', is one of the oldest fraternities in the United States, with fifty-six active chapters and five active colonies across North America. It was founded at Yale College in 1844 by fiftee ...

fraternity, and he later ran a successful refrigeration company. Since retiring, he has worked with Big Brothers and several other charity foundations, including the

Community Association of Riding for the Disabled in Ontario A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, ...

and the

Canadian Therapeutic Riding Association Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

. He is also one of the co-founders of the Toronto Polo Club. Elder's brother,

Norman Elder Norman Sam Elder (July 17, 1939 – October 15, 2003) was a Canadian explorer, exotic animal owner, writer, artist, Olympic equestrian and one of Toronto's eccentrics. He was the owner of the Norman Elder Museum at 140 Bedford Road in t ...

, was an author and explorer. He was also an Olympic equestrian rider at the 1960 and 1968 Olympics. The brothers were on the same eventing teams at the 1959 Pan American Games and 1960 Olympics.

References

Biography

See also

References