Michel Vaillancourt (born July 26, 1954) is a Canadian show jumper who won an individual silver medal at the 1976 Olympics. He tied for second place with

Debbie Johnsey Debbie Johnsey (born 3 July 1957) is a British equestrian. She competed in two events at the 1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * ...

and

François Mathy François Mathy (born 31 December 1944) is a Belgian equestrian and Olympic medalist. He was born in Brussels. He competed in show jumping at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of t ...

, but won the silver in a jump-off. Vaillancourt finished in fifth place with the Canadian team. Vaillancourt started training in horse riding aged 12, encouraged by his father, an equestrian coach who died in a horse riding accident in 1971. At his first international competition, Vaillancourt won a team bronze medal at the 1975 Pan American Games. He won a silver team medal at the next Games in 1979. Vaillancourt missed the 1980 Olympics in Moscow that were boycotted by Canada, and competed at the Alternate Olympics, winning a team gold medal. After retiring from competitions he worked as a course designer and coach, supervising the Canadian equestrian team at the 1994 and 1998 Olympics. He was inducted into the Jump Canada Hall of Fame in 2009.

References

1954 births Canadian male equestrians Equestrians at the 1976 Summer Olympics Living people Olympic equestrians for Canada Olympic silver medalists for Canada Sportspeople from Quebec Canadian show jumping riders Olympic medalists in equestrian Medalists at the 1976 Summer Olympics Pan American Games silver medalists for Canada Pan American Games bronze medalists for Canada Pan American Games medalists in equestrian Equestrians at the 1975 Pan American Games Equestrians at the 1979 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1975 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1979 Pan American Games 20th-century Canadian sportspeople 21st-century Canadian sportspeople {{Canada-equestrian-bio-stub