Hugo Simon


Hugo Simon is an Olympic medal-winning show jumper who took part in six Olympics between 1972 and 1996. Before his first Olympic appearance, he competed for West Germany, but in 1972 became an Austrian citizen.
He won a silver medal at age 49 at the team event at the 1992 Olympics on the horse Apricot D. Four years later, at age 53, he came fourth in the individual event after a jump-off involving seven riders competing for two medals.
He was the first person to win three World Cup titles, at the inaugural 1979 contest and also in 1997 and 1998. This feat was later matched by Rodrigo Pessoa in 2000 and Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum in 2009.
Simon is a businessman who has always considered show jumping a favorite hobby. He was still competing as of 2011, at age 68. He is regarded as the oldest winner of a show jumping Grand Prix, as he won the Grand Prix of Ebreichsdorf in May 2011.
Simon competed at his first Olympics in 1972 riding Lavendel. This followed by numerous Grand Prix's nations cups and another four Olympic Games, with The Freak, Gipsy Lady, Apricot D and E.T. Although Simon has had many successful horses it is with the showjumping great E.T. he is best known, along with E.T. Simon won many grand prix's and championships including the Aachen Grand prix in 1998 as well as the world cup final in 1997.