Matthew Morgan "Matt" Ryan, OAM (born 3 June 1964 in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, New South Wales) is an Olympic-level

equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or riding in British English) Examples of this are: *Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes in ...

rider. He is a triple Olympic gold medalist who competed for Australia. Matt has three older brothers, including the internationally successful eventer and

dressage Dressage ( or ; , most commonly translated as "training") is a form of horse riding performed in exhibition and competition, as well as an art sometimes pursued solely for the sake of mastery. As an equestrianism, equestrian sport defined by th ...

rider, Heath Ryan. In 1984 he travelled to Britain to train with the great

Richard Meade Richard Meade may refer to: *Richard Meade, 2nd Earl of Clanwilliam (1766–1805), Irish peer *Richard Meade, 3rd Earl of Clanwilliam (1795–1879), British ambassador *Richard Meade, 4th Earl of Clanwilliam (1832–1907), British Royal Navy officer ...

, before returning home the following year, and then went back to the UK in 1989 to set up a stable. He has won three Olympic gold medals, two at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...

in Barcelona and one at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

in Sydney. Additionally, he finished 8th at the 1992

Badminton Horse Trials The Badminton Horse Trials is a five-day event, one of only seven annual Concours Complet International (CCI) Five Star events as classified by the Fédération Équestre Internationale (FEI). It takes place in May each year in the park of ...

, was selected for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics (but had to withdraw a few days before competition due to horse injury), and was the reserve rider for the 2004 Athens Olympics. His two gold medal-winning horses, Kibah Tic Toc and Sandstone, were bred by Bridget Hyem, Australia's first female Olympic equestrian competitor. A few of his other major Badminton Horse Trials results are: 2nd 1995 Kibah Tic Toc, 4th 2007 Bonza Katoomba, 8th 2008 Bonza Puzzle. One of his up-and-coming young horses is Bonza Kingscanyon, who is being campaigned at novice level. Matt has a daughter called Millie and a dog called Wombat. He had a previous marriage with Nikki Ryan, also an eventer and current 5* eventing trainer. Ryan was inducted into the

Sport Australia Hall of Fame The Sport Australia Hall of Fame was established on 10 December 1985 to recognise the achievements of Australian sportsmen and sportswomen. The inaugural induction included 120 members with Don Bradman, Sir Don Bradman as the first inductee and ...

in 2000. Ryan appeared in Episode 4 Series 4 of the British reality TV show, The Hotel, as a guest on a family holiday in

Torquay Torquay ( ) is a seaside town in Devon, England, part of the unitary authority area of Torbay. It lies south of the county town of Exeter and east-north-east of Plymouth, on the north of Tor Bay, adjoining the neighbouring town of Paignt ...

, UK where he opened the beach party.

References

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* * * 1964 births Living people Olympic equestrians for Australia Australian male equestrians Olympic gold medalists for Australia Equestrians at the 1992 Summer Olympics Equestrians at the 2000 Summer Olympics Australian event riders Equestrians from Sydney Olympic medalists in equestrian Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics 20th-century Australian sportsmen Sportsmen from New South Wales {{Australia-equestrian-bio-stub