McLain Ward

He placed 29th in Individual Jumping-Final Round A, 24th in Individual Jumping-Third Qualifier, 6th in Team Jumping Final Round 2, 20th in Individual Jumping Second-Qualifier, 7th in Team Jumping Finial Round 1, 1st in Individual Jumping-Final Round, and 5th in Team Jumping-Qualification Round 1.

McLain Ward (born October 17, 1975) is an American show jumping competitor and five-time Olympic medalist.

In 1990, at age 14, he became the youngest rider to win the United States Equestrian Federation's Show Jumping Derby.

Later that year, he became the youngest rider to win the USET Medal Finals and became the first and youngest rider to win both titles in the same year.

He graduated from Greenwich Country Day School in 1993.

His parents were professionals in the horse industry and encouraged him to ride.

His father was his main business partner for much of his life.

Ward won the Hampton Classic Grand Prix aboard his Selle Francais bay gelding, Twist Du Valon, in 1998 and 1999.

They were the first rider-horse combination to win the Classic's Grand Prix back-to-back two years in a row.

Ward became the youngest rider ever to reach the $1 million prize Money Mark in grand prix competition in 1999.

At the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Ward won the team jumping gold medal for the United States, together with Peter Wylde, Beezie Madden, and Chris Kappler.

At the 2004 Olympic Games, Ward won the team jumping gold representing the United States.

Ward rode with a broken collarbone in the 2005 Samsung Super League when the United States team won the Championship.

He again won team jumping gold at the 2008 Olympic Games, riding Sapphire alongside teammates Laura Kraut, Beezie Madden and Will Simpson.

The highest he had placed up till then was 2nd in 2009.

Ward found himself at the center of controversy at the 2010 World Cup Final in Geneva, Switzerland.

His mount, Sapphire, was eliminated after the second round of jumping due to hypersensitivity in her left forelimb.

Sapphire was second in both rounds prior to elimination, and was at the top of the overall standings at the time of the disqualification.

McLain challenged the ruling to the FEI.

In July 2010, the FEI and McLain Ward agreed, to avoid extensive litigation, that Sapphire was incorrectly eliminated.

However, Sapphire's disqualification from the final round of the World Cup remained in place.

The FEI also decided to develop mandatory guidelines for hypersensitivity tests.

In 2010, Ward was featured in the television series A Rider's Story along with fellow Olympian Laura Kraut.

On the evening of January 14, 2012, when Ward was riding Oh d'Eole in the $30,000 Surpass Grand Prix, Ward suffered an injury, hitting his kneecap on a jump standard.

Ward was to heal for eight weeks.

Ward's horse Sapphire was retired May 14, 2012 at the Devon Horse Show.

That night, Ward won the $100,000 Wells Fargo Grand Prix of Devon.

November 28, 2012 Ward won the $10,000 Welcome Stake aboard Ilan Ferder and Missy Clark's Zhum CW, a Dutch Warmblood (KWPN).

At the 2012 Olympics in London, Ward rode for the USA Olympic Equestrian team.

At the 2016 Summer Olympics, Ward won team jumping silver for the United States.

Ward was born in Mount Kisco, New York to Barney Ward and Kristine Lindsey.

His hometown is Brewster, New York.

At the 2016 Summer Olympics, Ward again rode for the U.S. Team.

His mount was HH Azur, owned by Double H Farms and Francois Mathy.

At the time of the Olympics Azur was 10.

He earned a team silver medal, and placed 9th individually.

He stepped into the role of anchor for the team on the final day of team competition after teammate Beezie Madden's horse suffered an injury.

He had near perfect rounds all week, dropping only one rail all week.

In 2017 McLain won the Longines FEI World Cup Championship.

It was his 17th appearance at the final.