Vaughn Jefferis (born 20 May 1961 in

Huntly Huntly ( gd, Srath Bhalgaidh or ''Hunndaidh'') is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, formerly known as Milton of Strathbogie or simply Strathbogie. It had a population of 4,460 in 2004 and is the site of Huntly Castle. Its neighbouring settlement ...

) is a New Zealand horseman who won a bronze medal at the

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 ...

. Initially competing in

showjumping Show jumping is a part of a group of English riding equestrian events that also includes dressage, eventing, hunters, and equitation. Jumping classes are commonly seen at horse shows throughout the world, including the Olympics. Sometimes sho ...

Jefferis switched to

Eventing Eventing (also known as three day eventing or horse trials) is an equestrian event where a single horse and rider combine and compete against other competitors across the three disciplines of dressage, cross-country, and show jumping. This ...

in 1990 and had immediate success, being part of the gold medal team at the

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 ...

in Stockholm riding ''Enterprise''. Jefferis purchased ''Bounce'' in 1994 and rode the horse for the remainder of his international career. They won the world individual title in 1994 at

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

, a bronze medal in the team 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, ...

, the team gold at the 1998 World Championships in

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 ...

. Their last event was 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 ...

in Sydney but they did not complete the event.

Biography

Unlike the majority of his team-mates, such as Mark Todd, Andrew Nicholson and

Blyth Tait Robert Blyth Tait (born 10 May 1961) is a New Zealand equestrian. Tait has competed at four Olympics and has won four medals, one of only four New Zealanders to do so. Tait's first success at international level was at the 1990 World Equestri ...

, who based themselves in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, Jefferis remained in New Zealand throughout his career. After retiring in 2000 he has concentrated on producing and training horses. In August 2008, Jefferis announced he was making a comeback to top-level eventing, and would aim for the 2012 London Olympics.

References

Vaughn Jefferis plans comeback for London Olympics
– 4 August 2008 – Horsetalk.co.nz

External links

* * * Australian event riders 1961 births Living people Olympic bronze medalists for New Zealand Olympic equestrians for New Zealand New Zealand male equestrians Equestrians at the 1996 Summer Olympics Equestrians at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in equestrian Sportspeople from Huntly, New Zealand Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics {{NewZealand-equestrian-bio-stub