Daniel Coyle
Age: 29
Event: Showjumping
Previous Games: None
Daniel Coyle, 29, is from Co Derry and moved to North America in 2016, a switch that kick-started his career. He won his first World Cup, Nations Cup and five-star Grand Prix on the star mare Cita. Coyle was part of the Irish team that finished fourth at the 2022 World Championships to secure Ireland’s berth at the Olympics. This will be his first Olympic Games and his mount, the prolific 14-year-old mare Legacy, is the best he has ridden. Coyle has compared her to the unlikely US thoroughbred racehorse star of the 1930′s, Sea Biscuit. The partnership resulted in victory last year in the five-star London Grand Prix and that form has continued into 2024. In June Coyle also won a five-star victory in Canada on the gelding, Farrel. The Irishman divides his year between North America and Europe.
Shane Sweetnam
Age: 43
Event: Showjumping
Previous Games: Second (Tokyo 2020)
Shane Sweetnam, 43, is from Co Cork. It will be his second Olympics having competed in Tokyo three years ago. An international pony rider as a youngster, he left Ireland over 20 years ago to try his luck in the US. He currently spends winters based in Florida and lives in Kentucky during the summer months. Sweetnam was part of the Irish team that won team gold at the 2017 European Championships in Gothenburg. He was also part of the team that was runner-up at the same event in Milan last year. He won his first World Cup event on the grey James Kaan Cruz in Lexington last year, a landmark victory that helped turn the partnership into one of the most highly rated in the sport.
Cian O’Connor
Age: 45
Event: Showjumping
Previous Games: Fourth (Athens 2004, London 2012, Tokyo 2020)
Cian O’Connor, 45, has been Ireland’s most high-profile showjumper for much of the last 20 years. An individual bronze medal winner at London in 2012 – Ireland’s first equestrian medal – this will be his fourth Olympic Games. He finished seventh in the individual competition in Tokyo in 2021. O’Connor was famously stripped of gold at the 2004 Games in Athens when his mount, Waterford Crystal, failed a drugs test for substances banned in-competition. That eventual outcome followed a bizarre and lengthy saga which revolved around the theft of Waterford Crystal’s B-sample and ended with authorities satisfied that O’Connor was not involved in a deliberate attempt to affect the horse’s performance. Part of the European Championship-winning team in 2017, he also won individual bronze at that event. O’Connor will team up with the Belgian-bred Maurice in Paris. His Karlswood Operation is based in Co Meath.
Austin O’Connor
Age: 49
Event: Eventing
Previous Games: Fourth (Sydney 2000, Beijing 2008, Tokyo 2020)
Austin O’Connor, 49, is from Mallow, Co Cork and is based in Oxfordshire in England. First competed at the Olympics in Sydney 2000. Finished eighth in team event at Beijing (2008). Travelled as first reserve to Tokyo but Cathal Daniels’ withdrawal saw him finish 13th in the individual on Colorado Blue, the same horse he rides in Paris.
Sarah Ennis
Age: 49
Event: Eventing
Previous Games: Second (Tokyo 2020)
Sarah Ennis, 49, from Howth, Co Dublin is going to her second Olympics having finished 36th individually, and helped Ireland to eighth place, in Tokyo. She was fifth individually at the 2018 World Championships where she won silver in the team event. She is based near Batterstown, Co Meath. Ennis and her horse Action Lady Me finished top-10 in their three international outings this year.
Susie Berry
Age: 28
Event: Eventing
Previous Games: None
Susie Berry, 28, is from Dromore, Co Down. This is her first Olympics. A European junior champion she relocated to England in 2014. In 2022 she was part of the Irish team that finished fifth at the World Championships and secured Olympic qualification. A year ago, Berry recovered from being badly injured – concussion, broken ribs, punctured lungs and liver laceration – but she can look forward to riding Wellfields Lincoln in Paris.
Abigail Lyle
Age: 28
Event: Dressage
Previous Games: None
Abigail Lyle, 39, is from Bangor, Co Down. Paris will be her first Olympics. From a completely non-equine background, she made her international debut a decade ago. Having moved to England in 2009, she now trains 10 horses at her Cotwolds base. Lyle and her mount Giraldo competed at the 2022 World Championships in Denmark. The partnership won this year at Addington.
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