Brewster Resident Wins Silver Medal at Paris Olympics
News Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
Brewster resident McLain Ward won a silver medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics last week as a member of the U.S. equestrian jumping team.
Ward, 48, who was riding Ilex, joined teammates Karl Cook, Caracole de la Roque and Laura Kraut in earning the second-place finish at historic Chateau de Versailles.
Great Britain won the gold medal and home country France secured the bronze medal.
Ward has competed in six Olympics and captured five medals, including golds at the 2004 Athens games and 2008 Beijing games.
He won silver medals at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games riding a horse named Contagious.
“Without the horse none of this would be possible,” Ward states on his personal website.
In 1990, Ward became the youngest rider ever to win both the United States Equestrian Team (USET) Medal Finals and the USET Talent Derby at age 14. After turning pro, he became the youngest rider to reach the $1 million mark in earnings in 1999, at the age of 24.
He was named to the U.S. Jumping Team for the 2023 Pan American Games to help the team secure their Paris 2024 qualification. Ward rode his longtime mount, Contagious, helping the team finish with gold and also earning an individual bronze medal.
Ward added a new mount to his string, bringing Ilex on board as a potential Olympic mount, alongside his veteran horse, Callas. Ward and Callas earned a second-place finish in one of their first starts in a CSI5* Grand Prix of 2023, while both horses were strong for the U.S. Jumping Team, with Ward and Ilex bringing earning the team’s only double-clear in their team debut at the Wellington CSIO4* and a strong showing for Callas at the Longines League of Nations CSIO5 in Ocala, Fla.
He earned top finishes with both Callas and Ilex during their European Tour, which was capped by team selection with Ilex to represent the United States at the 2024 Olympic Games.
Rick has more than 40 years’ experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, running the gamut from politics and crime to sports and human interest. He has been an editor at Examiner Media since 2012. Read more from Rick’s editor-author bio here. Read Rick’s work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/pezzullo_rick-writer/
