Canadian horseman set for record 10th Olympics

CALGARY, Alberta — Ian Millar will appear in a record 10th Olympics this month when the 65-year-old equestrian enters the show jumping ring at the London Games.

Millar is about to surpass Austrian sailor Hubert Raudaschl, a nine-time Olympian from 1964 to 1996.

“It’s a great thrill to be doing this for the 10th time,” Millar says. “I never had a grand plan.”

His Olympic career spans 40 years. In fact, he could have been riding in his 11th Olympics this month. He made his country’s team in 1980, but Canada didn’t compete in Moscow because of a boycott.

Millar is a candidate to carry Canada’s flag in the opening ceremony July 27.

“It would be a fantastic honor to carry the flag and a great celebration for equestrian,” he said.

Millar and Star Power are among Canada’s 19 Olympic horse-and-rider combinations.

He won his only Olympic medal in the 2008 Beijing Games, a silver in team show jumping.

“We always think we’re going to win and we’re really surprised when we don’t,” he said. “I think any athlete feels that way. If you don’t think you’re going to win, you shouldn’t go.”