SKIP TO MAIN CONTENT

Show jumper Keach returns to Games 28 years later

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian show jumper Scott Keach will not be alone in competing in his second Olympics in Rio later this year but it is unlikely anyone else in the Athletes' Village will have waited so long for another taste of the Games.

2 min read

Published

Source: Reuters


Skip to article content

Keach was named in Australia's team for the Aug. 5-21 Olympics alongside Edwina Tops-Alexander this week, his only previous Olympic experience having come at the 1988 Games.

Now 51, Florida resident Keach is hoping to improve upon the fifth place in the team eventing competition and 23rd in the individual event he achieved nearly three decades ago in Seoul.

"I remember the whole Olympic experience and I enjoyed it very much," he said in an Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) news release.

News that makes sense

Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

"I remember going to the opening ceremony and closing ceremony and things like that. We had good horses and riders on our team but in the end things didn't quite go our way.

"Looking back it would have been ideal to have another two years of competition under my belt. I was young and inexperienced for international competition. The end result was disappointing."

Keach, who took a long break from show jumping in the 1990s and 2000s, would claim the Australian record for the longest gap between Olympic appearances in Brazil, the AOC said.

Sailors Karyn Davis-Gojnich and Nicky Bethwaite previously held the record courtesy of the 16-year gap between their participation in Seoul and the 2004 Olympics in Athens.

(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, editing by Peter Rutherford)


Get SBS News straight to your inbox

Sign up now for daily news from Australia and around the world. You can also subscribe to Insight's weekly newsletter for in-depth features and first-person stories.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Follow SBS News

Download our apps

Listen to our podcasts

Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service

Stream now

Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world