Ian Millar

For other people named Ian Miller, see Ian Miller (disambiguation).

Ian Millar
Personal information
Full name	Ian Millar
Nationality	Canada
Discipline	Show jumping
Born	January 6, 1947 (1947-01-06) Halifax, NS, CAN
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight	167 lb (76 kg; 11 st 13 lb)
Medal record Competitor for Canada Equestrian Olympic Games Silver 2008 Beijing Team jumping Pan American Games Gold 1987 Indianapolis Individual jumping Gold 1987 Indianapolis Team jumping Gold 1999 Winnipeg Individual jumping Silver 1979 San Juan Team jumping Silver 1983 Caracas Team jumping Silver 1991 Havana Team jumping Silver 2007 Rio de Janeiro Team jumping Bronze 1979 San Juan Individual jumping Bronze 1999 Winnipeg Team jumping

Ian Millar, CM (born January 6, 1947) is a Canadian show jumping world champion and Olympic silver medalist. Due to his longevity and accomplishments, he is often nicknamed "Captain Canada" in his sport. He is tied with Austrian sailor Hubert Raudaschl for most Olympic appearances (9).

Biography

Millar was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He operates "Millar Brooke Farms" near the small town of Perth, Ontario.

Millar is a nine-time winner of the Canadian Show Jumping Championship and has captured six Spruce Meadows Derbys, having amassed a record $2.2 million in prize earnings there.

With his horse, Big Ben (1976–1999), Millar won more than 40 Grand Prix titles worldwide and the Show Jumping World Cup two years in a row. At the Pan American Games in August 1987, Ian Millar became the second Canadian to win an individual gold medal. He holds the North American record for Grand Prix and Derby wins. He has been a member of every Canadian Equestrian Team at the Show Jumping World Championships team since 1972. At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Millar competed at his ninth games, tying the record set by Hubert Raudaschl. He has been named to ten straight Olympic teams, but did not compete at the 1980 Summer Olympics because of the Canadian boycott.

His wife Lynn died of cancer in March 2008.

On 18 August, at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, at the age of 61, Millar anchored his team (also including Jill Henselwood, Eric Lamaze, and Mac Cone) to a first-place standing. Riding In Style, he came through in the clutch with a perfect run to lead the Canadian team into a jump-off for gold with the United States. In the team equestrian gold-medal jump-off, Canada won the silver medal, Millar's first Olympic medal.

Millar continues to win in the Grand Prix ring. He says that his next goal to make the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, hoping to be joined on the Canadian team by son Jonathan, 36, and daughter Amy, 34.

In 1986 he was made a Member of the Order of Canada and in 1996 was inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame.

See also

• List of athletes with the most appearances at Olympic Games

References

• Equestrian Sports at The Canadian Encyclopedia

External links

• Ian Millar at The Canadian Encyclopedia
• Late-blooming Ian Millar just hitting his stride?