John Whitaker

The title of this article is ambiguous. For more meanings, see John Whitaker (disambiguation) .

John Whitaker medal table
Award ceremony for the Welfenhof Prize at the international Whitsun tournament Wiesbaden 2014
Show jumping
United Kingdom
Olympic games
silver	1984	Crew (with Ryan's Son )
World championships
bronze	1982	Crew (with Ryan's Son )
silver	1986	Crew (with hopscotch )
silver	1990	Single (with Milton )
bronze	1990	Crew (with Milton )
bronze	1998	Crew (with Heyman )
European championships
silver	1983	Singles (with Ryan's Son )
silver	1983	Crew (with Ryan's Son )
bronze	1985	Single (with hopscotch )
gold	1985	Crew (with hopscotch )
gold	1987	Single (with Milton )
gold	1987	Crew (with Milton )
gold	1989	team
silver	1991	team
silver	1993	team
silver	1995	team
bronze	1997	team

John Edwin Whitaker , MBE (born August 5, 1955 in Huddersfield ) is a British show jumper . Due to the large number of his successes over decades, he is sometimes referred to as a living legend.

Career

At the International Whitsun Tournament Wiesbaden 2014

At the International Whitsun Tournament Wiesbaden 2014

John Whitaker's career began in 1976 when he won the British Championship on Ryan's Son . In 1979 he finished fifth in the first World Cup final with Ryan's Son . Also with Ryan's Son he won the individual silver medal at the International Spring Rider Festival 1980 , the Olympic replacement competition of the boycotting states .

He had his most successful period in the late 1980s to early 1990s with the gray Milton , with whom he won the World Cup in 1990 and 1991 and became European champion in 1987 . In 1988 Whitaker and Milton were favorites at the Olympic Games in Seoul , but Milton's owners did not allow the start because they feared for the horse's health.

Together with his brother Michael Whitaker (born March 17, 1960), Timothy Grubb and Steven Smith , he won team silver at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

At the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney , he rode Calvaro Z, his brother Michael's horse. Shortly afterwards he suffered a stroke at a horse show in Sweden, but after his recovery he got back into the saddle immediately. In 2006 he had a bad crash at the jumping derby in Hamburg.

At the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008 , he had to do without a start because his horse Peppermill was injured in advance.

Whitaker is known for his ability to adapt to new horses and to place them in front in the most difficult courses after just a few days. In addition, he rides his horses so economically that they are still in top shape in top sport when they are old. He is considered humble and open-minded and is often wrongly described as taciturn due to the fact that he gives very short and precise answers to interviews.

Honors

In 1991 John Whitaker was honored with the title of MBE.

Private

He is married to Clare Barr, whose father owned the horse Ryan's Son . The couple have three children: Robert, Louise and Joanne. His son Robert , his nephew William and his niece Ellen are also internationally successful in show jumping.

Horses (excerpt)

John Whitaker with Argento at the CSI 5 * jumping at the International Whitsun tournament Wiesbaden 2013

• Milton (* 1977 - 4 July 1999), Dutch warmblood, gray gelding, father: Marius, mother's father: Any Question, since 1985, retired from the sport at the Olympia London International Horse Show in 1994 .
• Ryan's Son (* 1968; † 1987), bay, Irish half-breed, Whitaker was 18 years old when he got him under the saddle.
• Hopscotch (* 1975), Rhenish gelding
• Gammon Oldenburg gelding
• Welham (* 1980)
• Grannusch (* 1979), Hanoverian , retired from sport in 1999.
• Calvaro Z later renamed Calvaro FC , (* 1987; † 2009), bay Holstein stallion, father: Caletto I , mother's father: Capitol I, previously ridden by Michael Rüping , Jos Lansink and Michael Whitaker .
• Peppermill (* 1997), bay KWPN stallion, father: Burggraaf, breeder: W. Verstappen.
• Utah van Erpekom (* 1997), Belgian check stallion, father: Landetto, mother's father: Calimero.
• Argento

successes

• Olympic games
  • 1984 Los Angeles : Silver Medal Team on Ryan's Son

• Olympic substitute competitions of the boycotting states
  • 1980, Rotterdam : Silver medal team and silver medal individual on Ryan's Son

• World championships
  • 1982 in Dublin : Bronze medal team, on Ryan's Son
  • 1986 in Aachen : Silver medal team, on Hopscotch
  • 1990 in Stockholm : bronze medal team, silver medal individual on Milton
  • 1998 in Rome : bronze medal team on Heyman

• World cup
  • Winner 1990 and 1991 on Milton

• European championships
  • 1983 in Hickstead : silver medal team, silver medal individual Ryan's Son
  • 1985 in Dinard : gold medal team, bronze medal individual on Hopscotch
  • 1987 in St. Gallen : gold medal team, gold medal individual on Milton
  • 1989 in Rotterdam : Gold medal team
  • 1991 in La Baule : team silver medal
  • 1993 in Gijón : team silver medal
  • 1995 in St. Gallen : team silver medal
  • 1997 in Mannheim : bronze medal team

• CHIO Aachen
  • Winner 1997 on Welham

Web links

Commons : John Whitaker  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• John Whitaker in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )

literature

• Peter Matthews and Ian Buchanan: All Time Greats of British and Irish Sport , Enfield 1995 ISBN 0-85112-678-2

Individual evidence

1. ↑ John Whitaker - he's back! (2001)
2. ↑ John Whitaker Rides Again Soon (2001)
3. ↑ Hamburg: John Whitaker after a fall in a clinic (2006)
4. ↑ Ryan's Son: Horse of a lifetime (2008)
5. ↑ Calvaro Z is dead (2009)
6. ↑ Peppermill ( Memento of the original from June 30, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
7. ↑ Utah van Erpekom ( Memento of the original from December 22, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
8. ↑ Olympic Games team ranking
9. ↑ WM Singles ( Memento of the original from September 8, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
10. ↑ World Cup team
11. ↑ World Cup ( Memento of the original from April 29, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
12. ↑ EM single ( Memento of the original from September 15, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
13. ↑ EM team ( Memento of the original from September 15, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.