Blyth Tait
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| Full name | Robert Blyth Tait | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 10 May 1961 Whangārei, New Zealand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Country | New Zealand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Equestrian | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Event | Eventing | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Robert Blyth Tait MBE (born 10 May 1961) is a New Zealand equestrian. Tait has competed at four Olympics and has won four medals, one of only four New Zealanders to do so.[1]
Tait's first success at international level was at the 1990 World Equestrian Games in Stockholm, when he won Gold in both the individual and team events riding Messiah. At the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona he won Bronze in the individual event after teammate Vicky Latta knocked down a rail in the showjumping, and Silver in the team event with Latta and Andrew Nicholson (Mark Todd was also in the team but was not awarded a medal as he did not finish the event). At the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta he won Gold in the individual and Bronze in the Team event. Tait repeated his World Championships double Gold effort at Rome in 1998 riding Ready Teddy. He was flag-bearer for the New Zealand team at the 2000 Summer Olympics but he was eliminated in both the individual and team events. Tait completed his competitive Olympic career with a fifth in the team event at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. He was the eventing manager for the 2008 Summer Olympics.[2]
In the 1993 Queen's Birthday Honours, Tait was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire, for services to equestrian sport.[3]
Olympic record
- 1992: individual bronze; team silver (both on Messiah)
- 1996: individual gold (on Ready Teddy); team bronze (on Chesterfield)
- 2000: individual did not finish (on Welton Envoy); team did not finish (on Ready Teddy)
- 2004: individual 18th; team 5th (both on Ready Teddy)
Personal life
Tait is homosexual.[4]
Notes and references
- ^ Biography at New Zealand Olympic Committee website
- ^ "Out Olympians add to medal tally". Southern Voice. 29 August 2008. Archived from the original on 12 October 2008. Retrieved 29 October 2008.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "No. 53334". The London Gazette (3rd supplement). 12 June 1993. p. 38.
- ^ "Sports: Out Gays Win Olympic medals – Windy City Times News". September 2004.
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- 1961 births
- Living people
- New Zealand event riders
- LGBT sportspeople from New Zealand
- Olympic bronze medalists for New Zealand
- Olympic equestrians of New Zealand
- New Zealand male equestrians
- Olympic gold medalists for New Zealand
- Olympic medalists in equestrian
- Olympic silver medalists for New Zealand
- Equestrians at the 1992 Summer Olympics
- Equestrians at the 1996 Summer Olympics
- Equestrians at the 2000 Summer Olympics
- Equestrians at the 2004 Summer Olympics
- Sportspeople from Whangārei
- Gay sportsmen
- LGBT equestrians
- Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics
- Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics
- 21st-century LGBT people