Camilla Speirs represented Ireland in the individual and team eventing at the 2012 London Olympic Games, riding Portersize Just a Jiff – at 15.1 hands, one of the smallest horses on the international circuit. She was the youngest rider on the Irish eventing team at the Games at 22.

From Burtown, Co. Kildare, Speirs grew up on her family’s farm where her father Niall was Master of the local hunt and her mother Bridget had a keen eye for sourcing young horses. She began riding before she could walk and was eventing competitively by the age of eight. She made her international championship debut at the European Junior Eventing Championships aged 16, and went on to represent Ireland at the 2010 World Equestrian Games in Lexington alongside Jiff – a horse she had acquired in 2004 when he was originally intended for pony classes but grew too tall.

Together they formed one of the most celebrated partnerships in Irish eventing – taking each other from Pony Club all the way to the Olympic Games. She was a travelling reserve for the 2016 Rio Olympics. She subsequently competed at Badminton five times and the 2014 World Equestrian Games, becoming a five-star eventer. She is married to international show jumper Ethan Aherne.