McLain Ward

Sport: Equestrian

Nation: United States of America

DOB: October 17, 1975

Hometown: Brewster, NY

Career Highlights: McLain Ward became the youngest rider to win both the USET Medal Finals and the USET Talent Derby at age 14, and he has not looked back. Ward repeated the feat in 1991 and 1992 as he began to rack up accomplishments. In 2005, he was a key part of the gold medal-winning Samsung Super League team despite a fall on course that resulted in a broken collarbone. He has already competed in more than 10 FEI World Cup show jumping finals and numerous FEI Nations Cup competitions, along with two Olympic appearances. After bringing home gold at the 2004 Games with Sapphire, the pair matched it with gold at the Beijing Olympics. They were not close to done, taking home top honors in the $1 million CN International at the Spruce Meadows Masters in 2009 and winning the inaugural $1 Million Grand Prix at HITS-on-the-Hudson in 2010. Ward will be riding Antares F in London, and the pair has had major success. In a five-day span in 2011, Ward won Round 5 of the WEF Challenge Cup Series and placed second in the $150,000 Spy Coast FEI World Cup Grand Prix CSI3*. The pair was also a part of the gold medal-winning U.S. team at the 2011 Pan Am Games, and placed fourth overall. Ward suffered a shattered kneecap that kept him from riding for more than three months in January, but he rebounded to finish second in the Idle Dice Open Jumper Stakes with Antares F. His wife Lauren competes in the amateur divisions.

Olympic History: 2008,2004