This week is a special Take 5 with not only Phillip Dutton but several other top eventers who featured in the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. Sport Australia Hall of Fame caught up with the stars of the eventing portion of the Games, including our own Phillip Dutton who secured a team gold medal for his home country of Australia aboard House Doctor.
Sport Australia Hall of Fame asked Phillip what the lead-up to the Games was like for him: “A stand-out memory for the Sydney Olympics for me would be just the way the Games were put on,” Phillip said. “For me, coming from America and I took the horses to Australia because of the quarantine situation; I was there for a couple of months…it was a great experience for me to go back home and live there and be a part of it all.”
Phillip also talks for a moment about the greenness of his Sydney horse, House Doctor, giving credit to the horse for stepping up the plate for a clutch performance.
Phillip had moved his business to the U.S. before these games, relocating in 1991 in preparation for the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. He would also represent Australia in Atlanta, earning a team gold there. Phillip would ride for Australia on a total of three Olympic and four World Championship teams before changing his citizenship to ride for America in 2006.
You’ll want to sit and have a watch for the whole video, in which stars such as Andrew Hoy, Stuart Tinney, and team vet Dr. Denis Goulding all reflect on the experience. Matt Ryan was also a member of the gold medal winning team in 2000.
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