Heike Holstein
EQUESTRIAN
BIOGRAPHY
Heike first sat on a pony at the age of two. She won her first Irish title aged 18 (1990) and has since won it 12 times. She trained with seven-time Olympic medallist Dr Reiner Klimke in Germany for many years and this will be her fourth Olympics. She was 26th in Atlanta (1996), 42nd in Sydney (2000) and 50th in Athens (2004). She bred Sambuca herself and brought her to Grand Prix level and competed on her at the 2019 European Championships. She took 13 years out of international competition to have her family (sons Jake and Archie) so the 2019 Nations Cup in Aachen was her first appearance for Ireland in 14 years. Despite limited competitions in 2020-21 the pairing had seven top 10 placings, including the five-star Grand Prix in Rotterdam in July 2021. Her mother Gisela Holstein is an international dressage judge and her brother Erik, a show jumper, was 10th individually at the 1998 World Equestrian Games.
OTHER EQUESTRIAN ATHLETES
Sarah Ennis
Sarah has competed for Ireland since 2002 on more than 50 horses in over 280 competitions and beat the legendary British rider William Fox-Pitt in her first international victory. In 2012 she won the three-star at Ballindenisk and was Ireland’s highest eventer on the world rankings. Her individual fifth was vital to Ireland winning silver […]
Sam Watson
Sam WatsonEQUESTRIAN BIOGRAPHY Since his international debut (2002) Sam has competed in three World Equestrian Games (2010, 2014, 2018) and contributed to three top ten team finishes. His biggest achievement was 14th individual place in 2018 which helped Ireland to their historic team silver. He was 12th, individually, at the 2015 European Championships and 10th [...]
Austin O’Connor
Austin O’ConnorEQUESTRIAN BIOGRAPHY Austin, based at Attington Stud in Oxfordshire since 1994, will be competing in his third Olympics in Tokyo. He was 21st individual and eighth in the team event at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and he was 17th individual in the Sydney Olympics (2000). In 1995 he won team gold at the [...]
Shane Sweetnam
Shane SweetnamEQUESTRIAN BIOGRAPHY Shane began his Grand Prix career aged 16. In 2004, after qualifying in IT from the University of Limerick, he headed to Florida and got a job with US Olympic veteran Margie Engle and has been based in Florida since. He was eighth individually to help Ireland to team gold at the [...]
Cathal Daniels
CATHAL DANIELSEQUESTRIAN BIOGRAPHY In 2012, aged 15, Cathal won individual and team gold at the European Pony Eventing Championship in France. He won two team golds and individual silver at European U18s (2013/2014) as well as European U21 team bronze and fourth individually in 2015. In 2018 he was part of Ireland’s team silver at [...]
Bertram Allen
BERTRAM ALLENEQUESTRIAN BIOGRAPHY Bertram first competed for Ireland in 2008. He won individual gold at the 2010 European Pony Championships. He won team gold (2012) and individual silver (2013) at the European Junior Championships. He was 7th individually at the 2014 World Equestrian Games, 3rd at the World Cup Final in 2015 and a member [...]
Darragh Kenny
DARRAGH KENNYEQUESTRIAN BIOGRAPHY Darragh rode in his first Grand Prix at 14 and debuted in the Dublin Horse Show (2007) when just 19. He was a member of Ireland’s Nations Cup (Aga Khan) victors in Dublin in 2015. In 2007 he won a training bursary to work with a top American coach at North Run [...]
Cian O’Connor
CIAN O'CONNOREQUESTRIAN BIOGRAPHY Cian's introduction to equestrianism started at the age of 14 through his father Tadhg's love of horses. His first horse whom he shared with his father was a chestnut gelding called Radiman, whom Cian had great success with in hunter trial competitions. Having ridden in his first Nations Cup for Ireland at [...]
EQUESTRIAN NEWS
Deloitte Double Down at Team Ireland’s Fittest Sponsor
Six teams – our title sponsor PTSB and partners Allianz, Deloitte, Flogas, McKeever and Sport Ireland – went head to head yesterday at the Sport Ireland Campus to see who would be crowned Team Ireland’s Fittest Sponsor. With great encouragement from MC Greg O’Shea, their own personal Olympic coaches and in front of a vocal [...]
Irish Sailor Eve McMahon selected to take part in the Olympic Torch Relay in Marseille
Celebrations are about to get underway in Marseille, France today (8 May) as the city prepares for the arrival of the Olympic flame to French soil. Irish sailor, and Team Ireland Paris Scholar, Eve McMahon, has been selected by the French Embassy in Ireland as the Irish representative to participate in the Olympic Torch Relay [...]
Ireland’s Pool Opponents Confirmed For HSBC SVNS Grand Final Event
25 June 2023; Terry Kennedy of Ireland on his way to scoring his side's first try in the Men's Rugby Sevens match between Ireland and Italy at the Henryk Reyman Stadium during the European Games 2023 in Krakow, Poland. Photo by David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile The pools have been announced for the Ireland Men’s and Women’s [...]
Olympic Flame Arrival To France
AN HISTORIC CELEBRATION IN MARSEILLE ON 8 MAY TO KICK-OFF CELEBRATIONS IN FRANCE Carrying a message of unity and symbolising the unifying dimension of sport, the Olympic flame has begun its journey in Greece to pay tribute to the origins of the Games. After departing from the port of Piraeus in Greece on 27 April, [...]
Key Patent Innovations becomes Team Ireland Partner
Key Patent Innovations becomes Team Ireland Partner Irish patent licencing company to back Team Ireland at Paris 2024 and beyond The Olympic Federation of Ireland today announced that Key Patent Innovations will become official partner to Team Ireland, following an agreement which opens with the Paris 2024 Games. The homegrown Irish company is a global [...]
Team Announcement: 2nd Olympic Boxing World Qualifier, Bangkok, Thailand
Team Announcement: 2nd Olympic Boxing World Qualifier, Bangkok, Thailand The 7-strong team to contest the final boxing qualifier for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games has been named and is: Tokyo bronze medalist at 71kg, Aidan Walsh, European Games athletes Daina Moorehouse (50kg), Jennifer Lehane (54kg), Sean Mari (51kg), and Kelyn Cassidy (80kg), 66kg Grainne […]
