) Elder in 1961 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | 27 July 1934 (age 86) Toronto, Ontario, Canada[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 172 cm (5 ft 8 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 70 kg (154 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Equestrian | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Event(s) | Show jumping, 3-day eventing | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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.svg.png){kind=small}
.svg.png "Gold medal – first place"){kind=icon}
.svg.png "Bronze medal – third place"){kind=icon}
.svg.png "Silver medal – second place"){kind=icon}
Robert James Elder, OC (born 27 July 1934) is a Canadian retired equestrian. He competed at six Olympic Games between 1956 and 1984, winning one gold and one bronze medal. He missed the 1964 and 1980 Olympics because Canada did not send eventing and jumping teams there.[1]
Biography
Born in Toronto, Ontario, Elder started competitive jumping at the age of 16 in 1950. In 36 years of competition, he won an Olympic gold medal, one Olympic bronze, five Pan American medals, and a world title. Elder was Canada's flag bearer at the closing ceremony of the 1972 Munich Olympics.[2] In 1983, he was honoured with the Order of Canada. He was inducted into the Canada's Sports Hall of Fame (1968), Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame (1971), Canada's Walk of Fame (2003), Canadian Eventing Hall of Fame (2009), and the Jump Canada (2010) Hall of Fame.[3]
Elder graduated from the University of Toronto where he was a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, and later ran a successful refrigeration company.[1] Since retiring, he has worked with Big Brothers and several other charity foundations including the Community Association of Riding for the Disabled in Ontario and the Canadian Therapeutic Riding Association and is one of the co-founders of the Toronto Polo Club.
Elder's brother, Norman Elder was an author and explorer. He was also an Olympic equestrian rider at the 1960 and 1968 Olympics.[4] The brothers were on the same eventing teams at the 1959 Pan American Games and 1960 Olympics.[1]
See also
- List of athletes with the most appearances at Olympic Games
References
- ^ a b c d Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Jim Elder". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2009-06-06.
- ^ "1972 Munich". Canadian Olympic Committee. 2013. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
- ^ Jim Elder. Canada's Walk of Fame
- ^ "Norman Elder". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 2012-10-25. Retrieved 2010-02-26.