Photo by Leslie Wylie.
Dutch Olympian and 2016 Boekelo competitor Tim Lips had no intention of making a big fuss over the fact that today is his 31st birthday — even his teammates were in the dark.
But when word got out in the press room, someone devised a plan to rope Tim inside after his dressage test, whereupon he was bombarded with a Dutch rendition of “Happy Birthday” and double-cheek smooched within an inch of his life by every woman in the room.
The song is called “Lang Zal Hij Leven” (translation: “Long Shall He Live”) and ends with a charming triple cheer of “hip, hip, hip, hurrah!” I caught the tail end of it on camera.
Tim is competing two horses this week, Keyflow and Brent.
Tim Lips and Brent. Photo by Leslie Wylie.
From all of us here at Eventing Nation: Happy Boekelo Birthday, Tim, and best of luck cross country tomorrow!
