ZARA PHILIPS
Date of Birth: 15 May 1981
Nationality: British
Speciality: Eventing
After a very successful career in the Young Riders, Zara Phillips’ presence
among the elite was eagerly awaited. She lived up to expectations,
achieving her finest result to date, when, on Toytown, she won
the individual gold medal and a team silver medal at the 2006
FEI World Equestrian Games in Aachen.
At the age of 22, she had already distinguished herself among
the top riders at Burghley in 2003, when she finished second,
almost preventing Pippa Funnell from winning the first, and until
now only, Rolex Grand Slam.
Following this, Zara Phillips should have ridden in the British
Eventing team in the 2004 Olympic Games, but her hopes of following
in her parent’s footsteps* were dashed by an injury to
Toytown.
In June 2005, a second place at the four-star event in Luhmühlen
earned her a selection for the 2005 FEI European Championships
at Blenheim.
Promoted onto the British Eventing team after Pippa withdrawal,
Zara Phillips won two gold medals on her senior debut, bettering
her mother Princess Anne’s achievement, who won the individual
title at the FEI European Championships in 1971.
Zara Phillips is also a qualified equine physiotherapist.
*Princess Ann, European Champion in 1971, represented Great
Britain at the Montreal Olympic Games (1976), while Captain Mark
Phillips won an Olympic team gold medal in Munich (1972) and
team silver medal in Seoul (1988).
