Juliet Jobling-Purser achieved one of the finest individual results in Irish Olympic equestrian history when she finished 7th in the three-day eventing competition at the 1968 Mexico City Olympic Games - riding her horse Jenny to a remarkable result that included a fall on the cross-country course, after which Jenny completed the phase, and a clear round in the final show jumping to clinch 7th place overall.
She was one of the first three women to compete for Ireland in an Olympic equestrian event. She was the daughter of Ernest Jobling-Purser, whose family had transformed an ailing glass manufacturing business into the global Pyrex brand after acquiring the English manufacturing licence in 1922. The family later settled at Elm Park, Rathfarnham, Dublin. A lifelong horsewoman who hunted with the Kildare Hunt, the Ward Union and the Scarteens, she had competed at Badminton and Burghley and participated in the 1966 World Championships as an individual before her Olympic selection, with her horsemanship further developed through coaching from Eddie Goldman and Robert Hall in England.
She was selected for a second Games at Munich 1972, where she was entered in the individual eventing but did not start. Her great-niece Martha Jobling-Purser has continued the family's connection to Irish equestrian sport.
Equestrian
