Billy Ringrose competed in the show jumping at the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games, with the equestrian events uniquely staged in Stockholm, Sweden in June 1956 – months before the main Games in Melbourne in November – due to Australian quarantine restrictions on horses that prevented the animals travelling to Australia.

One of the finest show jumpers of his generation, Ringrose went on to serve as Chef d’Equipe of the Irish equestrian team at subsequent Games and was a central figure in Irish equestrian sport for decades, playing a key role in the development of the sport at international level.