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
Trinity College Dublin Celebrates its Olympian Alumni
Trinity College Dublin has celebrated its Olympian alumni and heritage with a special ceremony and exhibition on campus. The college’s historic Exam Hall hosted the reception, which is the latest in a series of events marking the Centenary of Team Ireland’s first participation in the Olympic Games. The exhibition featured images and biographies of Olympians […]
OFI AGM APPROVES FOUR NEW MEMBER FEDERATIONS FOR LA2028
OFI AGM APPROVES FOUR NEW MEMBERS FOR LA 2028 CYCLE AND GOVERNANCE REFORMS Cricket, Lacrosse, Squash and Flag Football join 43 current OFI member sports Coinciding with the 100-days-to-go mark for Paris 2024, the Olympic Federation of Ireland today (17 April) held its Annual General Meeting, at which four new member federations were welcomed; Cricket […]
Paris 2024 – Olympic Flame Lit
Olympic flame for the Olympic Games Paris 2024 lit in symbolic ceremony in Ancient Olympia On the eve of 100 days to go, the flame for the Olympic Games Paris 2024 has been lit. It was ignited at the historic birthplace of the Olympic Games in Ancient Olympia in Greece. The Olympic flame, embodying peace […]
Jordan Conroy opens up in new Off The Ball and Allianz series
Jordan Conroy opens up in new Off The Ball and Allianz series Team Ireland Rugby 7s Star Jordan Conroy speaks bravely and honestly about his experience with domestic violence as a young child in Inner Drive, a the series from Off The Ball and Allianz. Inner Drive is a multi-platform, multi-part series, hosted by the […]
Rowing Ireland bring two medals home from World Cup I, Varese.
Two medals are coming home to Ireland as racing finishes up here on Lago di Varese. Fiona Murtagh and Airfic Keogh are taking home the silver medals for the Women’s Pair. Up against reigning World Champions Veronique Meester and Ymkje Clevering of the Netherlands, the crew from Galway had a tough race ahead. Ireland were [...]
Laura Weber | Multidisciplinary Fashion Designer
Getting to know a three-time Irish Olympian, ahead of one of the biggest days in her life away from sporting arena, was the genesis for Irish fashion designer Laura Weber designing Team Ireland’s uniforms for the opening and closing ceremonies in Paris 2024. Weber, a textile graduate from NCAD, first came to international prominence when [...]
