Cian O'Connor (born 12 November 1979) is an Irish equestrian competing in show jumping. He has competed at four Olympic Games, four World Championships and six European Championships.
O'Connor was stripped of the gold medal at the 2004 Olympics when his horse was found to have a banned substance in its system. O'Connor returned to the Olympics in 2012, receiving the bronze medal in the individual showjumping event. At the 2021 Tokyo Summer Olympics, O'Connor withdrew his mount Kilkenny after the horse suffered a nosebleed during their round.[1]
Cian was a member of the Irish Teams that won the Aga Khan Trophy at the Dublin Horse show in 2004, 2012, 2015 and 2022.[2]
O’Connor was also a member of the winning Irish team at the European Show Jumping Championships in 2017, where he placed third in the individual competition.[3]
As part of the Irish World Championships team in Herning 2022, O'Connor qualified for the Paris Olympic Games in 2024.[citation needed]
Major results
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Riding Waterford Crystal, O'Connor placed first in the individual jumping competition, earning Ireland's only gold medal. However, on 8 October 2004, it emerged that Waterford Crystal had tested positive for a prohibited substance.[5] The Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI) ruled that O'Connor must be stripped of his medal and he also received a three-month ban from competition.[6][7] FEI found that he did not deliberately attempt to affect the performance of the horse.[citation needed] The individual showjumping gold medal went to BrazilianRodrigo Pessoa and the Irish team's seventh place was inherited by the Italians.[8]
O'Connor won the bronze medal in London with his horse Blue Loyd 12 in individual jumping. He lost to Gerco Schröder of the Netherlands in a Silver medal jump-off.[9]
2020 Summer Olympics
O'Connor rode to seventh place with Kilkenny at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics (celebrated in 2021),[10] but withdrew after his horse suffered a nosebleed during their round. Blood became visible from the horse's nostrils three-quarters into their jumping round, and due to the horse's grey colouring, it was visible to spectators on the event's live stream. The appearance of blood from the nostrils was not in violation of the FEI's blood rule, however, out of an abundance of caution, O'Connor withdrew from the remaining team competition.[1]
