Team Canada’s Paris 2024 equestrian jumping team announced

Three athletes and their horses will be representing Team Canada in equestrian jumping at  Paris 2024, with Mario Deslauriers (Emerson) and Amy Millar (Truman) bringing their past Olympic experience while Erynn Ballard (Nikka vd Bisschop) will make her Olympic debut.

Ballard is currently the second highest-ranked female show jumper in the world. She has been representing Canada on Nations Cup teams since 2006. Her Team Canada debut at a major Games came at the Lima 2019 Pan American Games.

In May, Ballard won her first ever five-star Grand Prix title. She recorded 11 podium finishes in four- and five-star Fédération Equestre International (FEI) competitions, taking both first and second place six times.

“Every young athlete dreams of going to the Olympics, so this is really a dream come true,” said Ballard. “This is more than just a dream for me. This year belongs to everyone that has supported me and believed in me my whole career. I was able to qualify four horses with four different owners, but only one horse can go. This belongs to everyone. I have an exceptional team behind me and I couldn’t do it without them. To all the horses and all the people that have made this a reality, thank you.”

Deslauriers will make his fourth Olympic Games appearance in Paris, having made his Olympic debut at age 19 at Los Angeles 1984 where he finished fourth in both the individual and the team jumping events.

It was also in 1984 that Deslauriers became the first Canadian and the youngest rider to ever win the World Cup Final, a record he holds to this day. Deslauriers represented Canada as the sole jumping competitor at Tokyo 2020 and was part of Canada’s jumping team that claimed a silver medal at the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games.

Millar made her international debut with the Canadian Jumping Team in 1999 at the age of 22. Often riding in the anchor position, she has been crucial in Canada’s victories in Nations Cups. She made her Olympic debut at Rio 2016 as part of Canada’s fourth-place finish in the team event. Competing in her first Pan American Games at Santiago 2023, Millar placed sixth individually in addition to winning team silver.

Team Canada has won seven Olympic medals across the three equestrian disciplines, with jumping achieving the highest medal count, tallying five. The most recent medal was an individual bronze at Rio 2016.

Equestrian events will take place July 27 to August 6 (Day 1 to 11) at the Château de Versailles venue, beginning with eventing, which will run July 27-29. Dressage follows from July 30 to August 4 and jumping will be the final discipline between August 1-6.

Team Canada’s dressage and eventing teams will be announced at a later date.

Team Canada Equestrian Jumping Athletes at Paris 2024: