JANUARY 2012 THE RIDER /35 Canadian Athlete Eric Lamaze is the People’s Choice
Geneva, Switzerland – Olympic Show Jumping Champi- on Eric Lamaze of Schomberg, ON, was named ‘Rider of the Year’ as well as the CBC Sports ‘Athlete of the Year’ for 2011.
During a special presentation held Saturday evening, December 10, during the CSI5*-W Geneva show jumping tournament in Switzerland, Lamaze was recognized as the ‘Rider of the Year’ for the second year in a row. The winner of the ‘Rider of the Year’ title is determined by a vote by the members of the Internation- al Jumping Riders Club, and is awarded by the equestri- an publication yearbook, L’Annee Hippique. Publisher Eric Bruger made the presentation to Lamaze before fel- low show jumping competitor, Steve Guerdat of Switzerland, addressed the audience.
“It is an honour to receive this award, which is extremely important to me because it is voted on by the riders,” said Lamaze, who was visibly moved during the presentation. “After Mr. Bruger presented the award, Steve said some nice words to the crowd. He is a good friend of mine and he always loved Hickstead. He talked about the horse and told the crowd not to be sad, that Hickstead would have wanted to hear them clapping and cheering. The crowd stood up and gave a standing ovation. It was very special.”
Dressage Canada Announces Changes to its Board
December 23, 2011 — Dressage Canada, Equine Canada’s committee for the governance of the sport of Dressage, is announcing two changes to the compo- sition of its Board. Renee Young has announced her decision to step down as the chair of the Dressage Canada Board effective 31 December 2011, due to changes in her personal life. Young was elected as a member of the Dressage Canada Board for a three- year-term in 2009, and she plans to remain an active member of the Board and fulfil that term.
letes’ Council. A minimum of two director-at-large positions are opened each year.
Eric Bruger (left), publisher of L’Annee Hippique, pre- sents Eric Lamaze with the 2011 ‘Rider of the Year’ Award at CSI5*-W Geneva, Switzerland. Photo Credit – Kit Houghton
The following day, December 11, the CBC Sports ‘Athlete of the Year’ was announced by commentator Scott Russell during the Sunday afternoon sports pro- gram. An on-line poll conducted on the CBC Sports website allowed the public to cast their vote for 12 Cana- dian athlete nominees. Olympic champions Lamaze and
Hickstead received the overwhelming majority of the vote, earning 56.9 percent while world figure skating champion Patrick Chan finished second in the poll with 11.6 percent of the vote.
been crazy. It is hard to put into words how it feels to have so much support from the fans.”
“Together they were the best in the world and, for many Canadians, restored a sense of wonder to sport in 2011,” said Russell of the results. “We are proud to name Eric and Hickstead as the ‘Athlete of the Year.’”
Russell interviewed Lamaze by telephone from Geneva, marking the first interview that Lamaze has given since Hickstead’s tragic death, resulting from a ruptured aorta, on November 6.
“Equestrian is not mainstream like baseball or hockey or basketball, so it is an honour for our sport to have a show jumping athlete win,” said Lamaze. “Peo- ple have been more than kind; I am still receiving e-mails and good wishes. Everywhere I have showed, Toronto, Paris and now Geneva, the crowds have
Geneva was the final event of the year on Lamaze’s competition schedule. The Olympic champion closed out the 2011 season as the number one show jumping rider in the world in the Rolex Rider Rankings. In his last major victory riding Hickstead, the pair won the $1 mil- lion CN International on September 11 at the Spruce Meadows “Masters” Tourna- ment for the second time, bringing Lamaze’s career earnings at the Calgary venue to more than $3.3 million and plac- ing him firmly atop the Spruce Meadows all-time money won list.
Lamaze will now relocate from his base in Brussels, Belgium, to Wellington, Florida. He will spend the first three months of 2012 competing at the 12-week Winter Equestrian Festival, which opens January 11.
www.davisfeed.ca
Liz Steacie was asked by the Dressage Canada Board to lead its High Per- formance Committee in August 2011, during the difficult period for the committee that coincided with the Pan American Games. She remains a member of the committee, and looks forward to con- tinuing her support of Canadian dressage.
Dressage Canada and all of Equine Canada would like to thank Young and Steacie for their dedi- cated service to the sport of dressage in Canada, espe- cially during a very busy and successful 2011 com- petitive season.
The Dressage Canada Board (DCB) develops and manages its programs through a number of tech- nical committees. The objectives of Dressage Canada are to foster the growth of dressage and the pursuit of excellence in the sport at the local, national and international levels. The DCB consists of seven elected members, six direc- tors-at-large elected from the senior affiliates of Dressage Canada and one athlete representative elect- ed by their peers through the Dressage Canada Ath-
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