This post originally appeared in the Blotch section of the Fort Worth Weekly's website. To consume it there : https://www.fwweekly.com/2018/03/01/sports-rush-an-olympian-changes-horses/
Polo spent
five Olympiads as an official sport, but it hasn’t participated since
before World War II. Equestrian competitors in general, however, have
vied for medals in every Summer Olympics since 1912.
Ben Maher has competed in show jumping in the last three
Summer Games, and owns a gold medal for his part in winning the team
jumping event for Great Britain in 2012 in London.
Friday, I watched him ride in a polo match. The setting
was a great deal less competitive than his normal sporting pursuits: a
charity contest in Wellington, Florida. Maher participated in the final
chukker (equivalent to a period or quarter in polo parlance), as both
sides added a guest teammate for the final period. The Olympian found
himself at the event in part because he’s affiliated himself with one of
polo’s most prominent families.
The young men’s father was once perhaps the world’s best
player, and the whole family is filled with accomplished riders and polo
players. Though Carlos, Sr. died after an in-game accident in 2014, the
Gracida name still foments warm
feelings within the polo community. The brothers leveraged the goodwill
their father generated, along with their own friendly and unpretentious
demeanors, to create Friday’s Equine Salute Invitational. They designed
the event to benefit the Gracida Legacy Foundation, a charity they’ve
started with the aim of helping underserved kids realize the benefits of
horsemanship, and generate interest in their Gracida Wine brand, which
was available at the match and subsequent tent party.
Maher and many others contributed his time to making the
day a success. In the video interview that accompanies this post, he
tells us what it was like playing a sport that is not his main one and
how he feels watching an Olympics in which he didn’t participate, in
this case the 2018 Winter Games, which were in their closing stages as
he played in the polo match.
Rush Olson has spent more than two decades directing creative efforts for sports teams and broadcasters. He currently creates ad campaigns, television programs, and related creative projects for sports entities through Rush Olson Creative & Sports, Mint Farm Films, and FourNine Productions.
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