Interview with Laureus Award Nominee Nick Skelton

Press release Laureus – Despite breaking his neck in 2000, Nick Skelton became the oldest British Olympic champion since 1908, at 58 years and 233 days, when he won the individual show jumping gold medal on Big Star in Rio. It was his seventh Olympic Games. Nick has been nominated by the world’s media for the 2017 Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year Award.

NICK SKELTON – INTERVIEW

What does being nominated for the Laureus World Sports Awards mean to you?
I’m amazed and truly honoured to be amongst such legends of sport. It’s very humbling to say the least.

Could you ever have contemplated a situation where you would be competing with people like Michael Phelps and Juan Martin del Potro for an Award?
It’s both bizarre and one of the delights of Laureus.

Why are Laureus Awards so prestigious?
They are very prestigious indeed and to think you are being judged by so many legends of international sport is very exciting. Sir Bobby Charlton [one of the Laureus Academy Members] was one ofmy heroes when I was a school kid.

It was a fantastic performance in the Rio Olympics. Do you have one particular memory?
My best memory of Rio was when I stood on the podium and thought that I’d finally achieved my ambition after seven Olympics and 41 years in the sport, and nearly killing myself on the way.

When you went into the event, was the gold medal your target?
Absolutely, I really believed I could win. I knew I was sitting on the best horse and I had complete trust in Big Star. He’s the best horse I’ve ever ridden and he knows the big occasion and takes it all in, whatever is going on around him. He has a fantastic personality and a brilliant temperament for a stallion. In all the eight years I’ve been riding him, I don’t think he’s ever let me down.

Can you tell us about your medical record, especially the broken neck?
My Medical record is rather long. They are all horse-related: two broken collar bones; a broken hand; a broken leg; a broken shoulder; two knee operations for torn cartilages; rotator cuff and bicep repair; broken neck; and a hip replacement. I suffer from chronic backache. In September 2000, I broke my neck C1 in two places and wore a metal halo brace for four months and surgeons told me never to ride again or even drive. But after two years of boredom and missing riding I felt good and decided to
give it another go, because I had a very good horse come along (Arko) which I took to Athens in 2004. I remember the first time I sat back on a horse after two years: I had a fall, got up, felt fine and have never looked back since. Now I never think about my injuries. I think if you do think about it, I’d never ride with the same confidence.

You were 58 in Rio. Can you keep going to Tokyo 2020, or is this the end of your Olympic career?
I’m now 59 and I suppose it is possible if you have the right horse and you’re fit enough, but Big Star will be 17 come Tokyo and I think that he will be past his best and unfair to ask him to do that. I think my Olympic days are over.