Andrew Hoy

Fast Facts

Sport: Equestrian
Event: Eventing
Horses Name: Vassily De Lassos
Olympic History: Los Angeles 1984, Seoul 1988, Barcelona 1992 (gold), Atlanta 1996 (gold), Sydney 2000 (gold & silver), Athens 2004, London 2012, Tokyo 2020 (silver & bronze)
Year Born: 1959
State Born: NSW

About Andrew

Andrew Hoy was born and brought up in Culcairn, NSW. He started riding when he was six-years-old and from then on he has spent the last 5 decades around horses. In 1978 he moved to England for a training stay and since 1993 he has been based mainly in the United Kingdom. 

At 19-years-old Hoy debuted at his first International Championships, where he represented Australia at the 1978 World Championships in Kentucky. By 20-years-old Hoy had won his first CCI4* competition. His estimated number of Four Star Rounds Ridden in 40 years of international competition sits around 180.

Hoy’s career has been highlighted with many big victories, his medal tally includes four World Championships, two Burghley Titles, an Olympic bronze medal, two Olympic silver medals and three Olympic gold medals that he won consecutively. Not only is Hoy a decorated Olympian but he’s the only Australian to have ever competed in eight Olympic Games.

His first time competing at the Olympics was in 1984 at the Los Angeles Games. While there Hoy finished 15th in the individual and 5th in the team events. At Seoul 1988, he finished 8th in the individual and came away with a consecutive 5th in the team events. 

The turning point in Hoy’s career came in 1992 at the Barcelona Games, this was when he won his first gold in the team event with Matt Ryan and Gillian Rolton, and finished fifth in the individual event. He carried the Australian flag in the opening ceremony for Atlanta 1996. At these Games he was a member of the team (with Phillip Dutton, Rolton and Wendy Schaeffer) that won back-to-back gold in the three-day event.

Australia's equestrian team then went on to win the three-day event at home in the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, crowd members were chanting: "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Hoy, Hoy, Hoy." Hoy had just become the first Australian other than Dawn Fraser to win three gold medals in a row.

Hoy returned to the Olympic arena at the London 2012 Olympic Games and again at the postponed Olympics in Tokyo. Riding Vassily de Lassos in Tokyo, a horse which he describes as a ‘once in a lifetime’ mount, Hoy claimed individual bronze and team silver alongside Shane Rose and Kevin McNab. 

Hoy’s results in Tokyo came 21 years after his individual silver medal and the team gold he won at Sydney 2000. The team and individual medal from Tokyo take the eight-time Olympian's medal tally to six (3 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze). Only Australian male Olympians Ian Thorpe (9) and Grant Hackett (7) have won more medals.

At age 62, Hoy became Australia's oldest Olympic medallist at Tokyo.