Ian Millar CM (born January 6, 1947) is a Canadian Equestrian Team athlete for show jumping. He is a two-time winner of the Show Jumping World Cup, and an Olympic silver medalist.[1] Due to his longevity and accomplishments, he is often nicknamed "Captain Canada" in his sport.[2] He holds the record for most Olympic appearances by any athlete in any sport (10). A member of Canada's 2012 Olympic Games team, he broke the record when he took part in his tenth Games in London 2012.[2]
Millar was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He operates "Millar Brooke Farm" near the small town of Perth, Ontario, alongside his children Jonathon Millar and Amy Millar, and daughter-in-law Kelly Soleau-Millar. [3]
In 1986 he was made a Member of the Order of Canada, and in 1996 was inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame. In 2013, he was inducted into the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame.[4]
He has a degree in business administration from Algonquin College, and received an honorary doctorate from the University of Guelph.
His wife Lynn died of cancer in March 2008.[5]
Millar is a twelve-time winner of the Canadian Show Jumping Championship.[6] He has been a staple on the Canadian Equestrian Team for decades, and has amassed over $3.5 million[7] in prize earnings at the prestigious Spruce Meadows venue in Calgary, Alberta.
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 (1988 & 1989). At the Pan American Games in August 1987, Ian Millar became the second Canadian to win an individual gold medal. He now has nine Pan American Games medals, including two individual golds. He holds the North American record for Grand Prix and Derby wins. He was a member of every Canadian Equestrian Team at the Show Jumping World Championships from 1972 to 2014. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, Millar competed at his tenth games (his first having been in 1972, having only missed the 1980 Games due to the US-led boycott against the Soviet Union), breaking the record set by Hubert Raudaschl.
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 completed a faultless round to lead the Canadian team into a jump-off for gold with the United States. Ultimately Canada would finish behind the American team to capture silver – Millar's first Olympic medal.[8]
Millar was named to the 2012 Olympic team, making that appearance, his tenth, a record for any Olympic athlete's appearances at Olympics.[9] In the 2012 Olympics' Individual Jumping event, Millar finished in a three-way tie for ninth aboard his gelding Star Power, the best Canadian result. In Team Jumping, Millar, along with fellow riders Jill Henselwood and Eric Lamaze, scored a fifth-place finish for Canada.
On September 14, 2014, Millar won the $1.5-million CP International at Spruce Meadows aboard Dixson, who shares bloodlines with Big Ben.[10] This was the third time he had won the class, having won previously in 1987 and 1991 with Big Ben.[11]
On July 23, 2015, Millar won a gold medal in the Pan American Games team jumping event.[12]
On May 1, 2019, Millar announced his retirement from international competition to re-focus his attention on coaching and developing young horses.[13]
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Media related to Ian Millar at Wikimedia Commons