Ian Millar CM (born January 6, 1947) is a Canadian Equestrian Team athlete for show jumping. He is a two-time winner of the Show Jumping World Cup, and an Olympic silver medallist.[1] Due to his longevity and accomplishments, he is often nicknamed "Captain Canada" in his sport.[2] He holds the record for most Olympic appearances by any athlete in any sport (10). A member of Canada's 2012 Olympic Games team, he broke the record when he took part in his tenth Games in London 2012.[2]
| Ian Millar CM | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Personal information | |
| Full name | Ian Millar |
| Nationality |  Canada |
| Discipline | Show jumping |
| Born | January 6, 1947 Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada |
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |
| Weight | 167 lb (76 kg; 11 st 13 lb) |
Medal record | |
Biography
editMillar was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He operates "Millar Brooke Farm" near the small town of Perth, Ontario, alongside his children Jonathon Millar and Amy Millar, and daughter-in-law Kelly Soleau-Millar.[3]
In 1986 he was made a Member of the Order of Canada, and in 1996 was inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame. In 2013, he was inducted into the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame.[4]
He has a degree in business administration from Algonquin College, and received an honorary doctorate from the University of Guelph.
His wife Lynn died of cancer in March 2008.[5]
Equestrian career
editMillar is a twelve-time winner of the Canadian Show Jumping Championship.[6] He has been a staple on the Canadian Equestrian Team for decades, and has amassed over $3.5 million[7] in prize earnings at the prestigious Spruce Meadows venue in Calgary, Alberta.
With his horse, Big Ben (1976–1999), Millar won more than 40 Grand Prix titles worldwide and the Show Jumping World Cup two years in a row (1988 & 1989). At the Pan American Games in August 1987, Ian Millar became the second Canadian to win an individual gold medal. He now has nine Pan American Games medals, including two individual golds. He holds the North American record for Grand Prix and Derby wins. He was a member of every Canadian Equestrian Team at the Show Jumping World Championships from 1972 to 2014. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, Millar competed at his tenth games (his first having been in 1972, having only missed the 1980 Games due to the US-led boycott against the Soviet Union), breaking the record set by Hubert Raudaschl.
On 18 August, at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, at the age of 61, Millar anchored his team (also including Jill Henselwood, Eric Lamaze, and Mac Cone) to a first-place standing. Riding In Style, he completed a faultless round to lead the Canadian team into a jump-off for gold with the United States. Ultimately Canada would finish behind the American team to capture silver – Millar's first Olympic medal.[8]
Millar was named to the 2012 Olympic team, making that appearance, his tenth, a record for any Olympic athlete's appearances at Olympics.[9] In the 2012 Olympics' Individual Jumping event, Millar finished in a three-way tie for ninth aboard his gelding Star Power, the best Canadian result. In Team Jumping, Millar, along with fellow riders Jill Henselwood and Eric Lamaze, scored a fifth-place finish for Canada.
On September 14, 2014, Millar won the $1.5-million CP International at Spruce Meadows aboard Dixson, who shares bloodlines with Big Ben.[10] This was the third time he had won the class, having won previously in 1987 and 1991 with Big Ben.[11]
On July 23, 2015, Millar won a gold medal in the Pan American Games team jumping event.[12]
On May 1, 2019, Millar announced his retirement from international competition to re-focus his attention on coaching and developing young horses.[13]
International championship results
edit| Results | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Event | Horse | Placing | Notes | ||||||
| 1972 | Olympic Games | The Shoeman | 6th | Team | ||||||
| 1976 | Olympic Games | Count Down | 5th | Team | ||||||
| 1979 | Pan American Games | Brother Sam | 
|
Team | ||||||
|
Individual | |||||||||
| 1980 | World Cup Final | Year of the Cat | 14th | |||||||
| 1980 | World Championships | Brother Sam | 
|
Team | ||||||
| RET | Individual | |||||||||
| 1982 | World Championships | Wunderbar | 5th | Team | ||||||
| 49th | Individual | |||||||||
| 1983 | Pan American Games | Foresight |
|
Team | ||||||
| 5th | Individual | |||||||||
| 1984 | World Cup Final | Wotan | 18th | |||||||
| 1984 | Olympic Games | Big Ben | 4th | Team | ||||||
| 14th | Individual | |||||||||
| 1985 | World Cup Final | Big Ben | 8th | |||||||
| 1986 | World Cup Final | Big Ben |
|
|||||||
| 1986 | World Championships | Big Ben | 4th | Team | ||||||
| 10th | Individual | |||||||||
| 1987 | World Cup Final | Big Ben | 5th | |||||||
| 1987 | Pan American Games | Big Ben |
|
Team | ||||||
|
|
Individual | |||||||||
| 1988 | World Cup Final | Big Ben |
|
|||||||
| 1988 | Olympic Games | Big Ben | 4th | Team | ||||||
| 15th | Individual | |||||||||
| 1989 | World Cup Final | Big Ben |
|
|||||||
| 1990 | World Cup Final | Czar | 12th | |||||||
| 1991 | World Cup Final | Czar | 15th | |||||||
| 1992 | World Cup Final | Big Ben | 40th | |||||||
| 1992 | Olympic Games | Big Ben | 9th | Team | ||||||
| 54th | Individual | |||||||||
| 1993 | World Cup Final | Future Vision | 37th | |||||||
| 1994 | World Equestrian Games | Future Vision | 7th | Team | ||||||
| 27th | Individual | |||||||||
| 1996 | Olympic Games | Play It Again | 16th | Team | ||||||
| 47th | Individual | |||||||||
| 1997 | World Cup Final | 28th | ||||||||
| 1998 | World Equestrian Games | Mont Cenis | 10th | Team | ||||||
| 39th | Individual | |||||||||
| 1999 | Pan American Games | Ivar |
|
Team | ||||||
|
|
Individual | |||||||||
| 2000 | World Cup Final | Ivar | 30th | |||||||
| 2000 | Olympic Games | Dorincord | 9th | Team | ||||||
| 13th | Individual | |||||||||
| 2003 | Pan American Games | Promise Me | 5th | Team | ||||||
| 7th | Individual | |||||||||
| 2004 | Olympic Games | Promise Me | 22nd | Individual | ||||||
| 2005 | World Equestrian Games | In Style | 13th | Team | ||||||
| 90th | Individual | |||||||||
| 2007 | Pan American Games | In Style |
|
Team | ||||||
| 4th | Individual | |||||||||
| 2008 | Olympic Games | In Style |
|
Team | ||||||
| 22nd | Individual | |||||||||
| 2009 | World Cup Final | In Style | 15th | |||||||
| 2011 | Pan American Games | Star Power | 4th | Team | ||||||
| 24th | Individual | |||||||||
| 2012 | Olympic Games | Star Power | 5th | Team | ||||||
| 9th | Individual | |||||||||
| 2014 | World Equestrian Games | Dixson | 8th | Team | ||||||
| 36th | Individual | |||||||||
| 2015 | Pan American Games | Dixson |
|
Team | ||||||
| 16th | Individual | |||||||||
| EL = Eliminated; RET = Retired; WD = Withdrew | ||||||||||
References
edit- ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Ian Millar". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on December 4, 2016.
- ^ a b "London 2012: Canada's Ian Millar to compete at record 10th Games". BBC Sport. July 6, 2012. Retrieved July 6, 2012.
- ^ "Ian Millar thrilled to pass Olympic show-jumping torch to daughter Amy". National Post. July 13, 2016. Retrieved November 20, 2018.
- ^ "Ian Millar". oshof.ca. Ontario Sports Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on December 28, 2014. Retrieved September 25, 2014.
- ^ "Ian Millar's wife passes away". EQUISPORT. March 7, 2008. Retrieved July 10, 2024.
- ^ "Ian Millar Claims 2014 Greenhawk Canadian Show Jumping Championship Title". Ontario Equestrian. November 8, 2014. Retrieved October 8, 2021.
- ^ "Spruce Meadows Athletes". www.sprucemeadows.com. Retrieved November 20, 2018.
- ^ Doug Smith (August 18, 2008). "Millar finally gets Olympic medal in show jumping at 61". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on January 13, 2011. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
- ^ TSN, (April 18, 2012) ("Top 12 Canadian reasons to watch London in 2012", CTVOlympics.ca, Retrieved May 29, 2012
- ^ CBC, (September 14, 2014) ("Ian Millar wins CP International at Spruce Meadows", cbc.ca, Retrieved September 15, 2014
- ^ "Ian Millar Wins $1.5 Million CP International, Presented by Rolex - Ontario Equestrian". Ontario Equestrian. September 15, 2014. Retrieved November 20, 2018.
- ^ The Globe and Mail (July 23, 2015) ("Ian Millar leads Canada to gold in team equestrian at Pan Am Games", theglobeandmail.com, Retrieved July 26, 2015
- ^ Showjumping, www worldofshowjumping com, World of. "Ian Millar announces retirement from international competition | World of Showjumping". www.worldofshowjumping.com. Retrieved May 3, 2019.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
External links
edit- Ian Millar at Team Canada
- Ian Millar at Olympics.com
- Ian Millar at OlympicChannel.com (archived)
- Ian Millar at Olympedia (archive)
- Athlete profile at London 2012 web site
- Ian Millar at The Canadian Encyclopedia
- Late-blooming Ian Millar just hitting his stride?
- Equestrian Sports at The Canadian Encyclopedia
Media related to Ian Millar at Wikimedia Commons
