Jim Elder
Elder in 1961
Personal information
Birth nameRobert James Elder
Born27 July 1934 (1934-07-27) (age 89)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada[1]
Height172 cm (5 ft 8 in)
Weight70 kg (154 lb)
Sport
SportEquestrian
Event(s)Show jumping, 3-day eventing
Medal record
Representing  Canada
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1968 Mexico City Team jumping
Bronze medal – third place 1956 Stockholm Team eventing
Pan American Games
Gold medal – first place1959 ChicagoTeam eventing
Gold medal – first place1971 CaliTeam jumping
Silver medal – second place1983 CaracasIndividual jumping
Silver medal – second place1983 CaracasTeam jumping
Bronze medal – third place1967 WinnipegTeam jumping
Bronze medal – third place1975 Mexico CityTeam jumping
World Championships
Gold medal – first place1970 La BauleTeam jumping

Robert James Elder, OC (born 27 July 1934) is a Canadian retired businessman and former equestrian. He competed at six Olympic Games between 1956 and 1984, winning one gold and one bronze medal. He missed the 1964 and 1980 Olympics because Canada did not send eventing and jumping teams there.[1]

Biography

Born in Toronto, Ontario, Elder started competitive jumping at the age of 16 in 1950. During 36 years of competition, he won an Olympic gold medal, one Olympic bronze, five Pan American medals, and a world title. Elder was Canada's flag bearer at the closing ceremony of the 1972 Munich Olympics.[2]

In 1983, he was honoured with the Order of Canada. He was inducted into the Canada's Sports Hall of Fame (1968), Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame (1971), Canada's Walk of Fame (2003), Canadian Eventing Hall of Fame (2009), and the Jump Canada (2010) Hall of Fame.[3]

Elder graduated from the University of Toronto, where he was a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, and he later ran a successful refrigeration company.[1] Since retiring, he has worked with Big Brothers and several other charity foundations, including the Community Association of Riding for the Disabled in Ontario and the Canadian Therapeutic Riding Association. He is also one of the co-founders of the Toronto Polo Club.

Elder's brother, Norman Elder, was an author and explorer. He was also an Olympic equestrian rider at the 1960 and 1968 Olympics.[4] The brothers were on the same eventing teams at the 1959 Pan American Games and 1960 Olympics.[1]

See also

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jim Elder.
  1. 1 2 3 4 Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Jim Elder". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2009-06-06.
  2. ↑ "1972 Munich". Canadian Olympic Committee. 2013. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
  3. ↑ Jim Elder. Canada's Walk of Fame
  4. ↑ "Norman Elder". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 2012-10-25. Retrieved 2010-02-26.
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