Michael Whitaker (born 17 March 1960) is a British Olympic

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 ...

rider, who competes in the sport of show jumping. He was ranked 5th by the British Showjumping Association in March 2014.

Career

Younger brother of John Whitaker, Michael began competing on ponies at the age of 5. At the age of 16, he made his debut in international competitions and in 1980 he became the second youngest winner of the

Hickstead Hickstead may refer to: * All England Jumping Course at Hickstead The All England Jumping Course at Hickstead, known widely as Hickstead, is an equestrian centre in West Sussex, England, principally known for its showjumping. It hosts two inte ...

Derby, at the age of 20. In September 1993 he took over from his brother John as the internationally top-ranked show jumping rider. In 2009 Whitaker was banned from competition for four months after his stallion Tackeray tested positive for a synthetic hormone altrenogest during a competition in France. Altrenogest is a female hormone that Whitaker claimed was present in the sample due to a mix up in feed buckets. Whitaker was found to be negligent for the positive test.

Personal life

Born and raised on his parents' farm in Yorkshire. He and his three brothers were taught to ride by their mother Enid, a keen horsewoman. Michael began riding aged three on a Shetland pony named Hercules. In December 1980, Whitaker married Belgian show jumper Veronique. They separated in 1997, and later divorced. He married his second wife on 13 August 2013. They live in Whatton, Nottinghamshire with their children.

Major achievements

*1984:

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 vari ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. Team Silver medal with Overton Amanda *1985: European Championships,

Dinard Dinard (; br, Dinarzh, ; Gallo: ''Dinard'') is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department, Brittany, northwestern France. Dinard is on the Côte d'Émeraude of Brittany. Its beaches and mild climate make it a holiday destination, and this ...

. Team Gold medal with Warren Point *1986:

World Championships 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, ...

, Aachen. Team Silver medal with Warren Point *1987: European Championships,

St. Gallen , neighboring_municipalities = Eggersriet, Gaiserwald, Gossau, Herisau (AR), Mörschwil, Speicher (AR), Stein (AR), Teufen (AR), Untereggen, Wittenbach , twintowns = Liberec (Czech Republic) , website = ...

. Team Gold Medal with Overton Amanda *1989: European Championships,

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...

. Team Gold Medal and individual silver medal with Mon Santa *1990: World Equestrian Games, Stockholm. Team Bronze medal with Mon Santa *1991: European Championships,

La Baule La Baule-Escoublac (; br, Ar Baol-Skoubleg, ), commonly referred to as La Baule, is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department, Pays de la Loire, western France. A century-old seaside resort in southern Brittany with villas, casino, luxury h ...

. Team Silver medal with Mon Santa *1993: European Championships, Gijon. Team Silver medal and individual bronze with Midnight Madness *1994: World Cup Final,

's-Hertogenbosch s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a city and municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 157,486. It is the capital of the province of North Brabant and its fourth largest by population. The city is south of th ...

. 3rd place with Midnight Madness *1995: European Championships, St. Gallen. Silver medals in team and individual with Two Step *1997: European Championships,

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's ...

. Team Bronze Medal with Ashley *2001: World Cup Final, Gothenburg. 3rd place with Handel II *2005: World Cup Final,

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

2nd place with Portofino 63 *2007: European Championships, Mannheim. Team Bronze Medal with Portofino 63

References

External links

BSJA profile

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20070830220929/http://www.em2007.de/results/ FEI European Jumping Championship – Mannheim – 2007 {{DEFAULTSORT:Whitaker, Michael 1960 births Living people English male equestrians Olympic equestrians for Great Britain British male equestrians Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain 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 2016 Summer Olympics British show jumping riders Sportspeople from Huddersfield Olympic medalists in equestrian Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics