Samuel's Story
Sam Griffiths became an Olympic medallist at the Rio 2016 Games when he took home bronze in the team eventing alongside Chris Burton, Stuart Tinney, Sam Griffiths and Shane Rose.
With Rose eliminated in the cross country phase, the three remaining Aussie riders had to be in top form as they entered the final day of show jumping in gold medal position. They faced an uphill battle after Tinney knocked down rails at four fences, but Griffiths managed to go clear to help the team maintain their position behind France and Germany in gold and silver respectively.
Griffiths also narrowly missed out on medals in the Rio individual eventing competition finishing fourth.
In 1995, Griffiths moved to the United Kingdom to peruse his equestrian career. He trained and worked as a back-up rider for dual Olympic gold medallist Matt Ryan for three years, training and competing at all levels of horse events. The Melbourne born athlete had his first taste of international success when he won team gold and individual silver at the Asia/Pacific Championships in 2003.
After being shortlisted for the 2004 Athens and 2008 Beijing Games, Griffiths’ Olympic dream came to fruition in 2012 when he was a reserve and then called up after two of his teammates’ horses were injured (Shane Rose and Megan Jones.) Griffiths fell from Happy Times in the cross country phase. Australia eventually placing sixth.
