- Prince Philip died on April 9, 2021 at the age of 99. For more than 40 years he has been associated with equestrian sports – as a polo player, as a representative of Great Britain in driving a horse-drawn carriage and in … finally president of the World Federation
- In 1975 in Poland, he took twenty-first place in the third European Championship in driving. It is not true that he was treated with indulgence and silence about the result
- In equestrian sport, Great Britain was represented at the games by the daughter of Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth II, Anna (in Montreal 1976) and their granddaughter, Zara Phillips. The daughter of Duchess Anna won in 2012 in London an Olympic silver medal
- You can find more of these stories on Onet.pl
The President of the International Equestrian Federation, the Duke of Edinburgh, came for my cliffs – he informed “Przegląd Sportowy”. “On 27-31 bm. The European Championships will be held in Sopot. 35 teams from 11 countries participate in the tournament: CSRS (Czechoslovakia – Editor’s Note), Denmark, Netherlands, Yugoslavia, East Germany, West Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, Great Britain, Hungary. On Monday, the Duke of Edinburgh-Philip, President of the International Equestrian Federation, came to Gdansk. Prince Philip will also appear in the Sopot Championship as a competitor. At the Gdansk airport in Rębiechowo, he welcomed guest Alexander Schmidt, State Councilor, Chairman of the GKKFiT Bolesław Kapitan (Main Committee) For Physical Culture and Tourism, which is equivalent to the last Ministry of Sports – Editor’s Note) and Deputy Voivodeship Gdańsk Jan Mariaski “- wrote” PS “on the front page on August 26, 1975 as you can see, Prince Philip not only came to Tri-City as a prince, but he had a greeting Dignified and appropriate to his class. After all, not all European Championships participants were welcomed this way. Representatives of the state authorities did not come to the airports to officially receive the heads of even the most important sports federations in the country.
By the way, we can add that in the summer of 1975 Przegląd Sportowy was very lucky with covers of important personalities from the world of power and politics. Just a month ago, in July, photos of the President of the United States, Gerald Ford, who had made an official visit to Poland, appeared on the front page. Thanks to “courtesy of the US Embassy,” the newspaper was able to show in the photos that Ford was spending every free moment in sports – there were pictures of how he played tennis, swimming, as well as jumping on a trampoline.
The American devoted himself to entertainment, while the Duke of Edinburgh took it seriously for years – with all the consequences, he had no compromises. In ten years, he participated in an event of the World Championships six times, and the European Championships three times. Individually, at the World Championships, he ranked 1st in 1982 – the sixth; But he also had four medals won by the teams: four bronze and one gold from 1980!
It was also impossible to overestimate the fact that, as a member of the British royal family, he simply attracted attention and spread non-Olympic sporting discipline. And he came to her … after he stopped, due to his age, from playing polo in 1971, which he had occupied for nearly thirty years. As he himself mentioned, he decided to take advantage of the fact that he had access to many historic chariots and horses. When he competed in the European Championships in a horse-drawn carriage for the first time in 1973, he described his performance in the usual sense of humor: – I never finished this competition at all, although … I was not far from it.
The Sopot event with its participation was reported by “Przegląd Sportowy” on a regular basis. In the August 29 issue, you can read: “The third European Championship began with a shoe show, in which the horse’s qualities, gear, vehicle, and the rider’s behavior and attire were evaluated. The judges were very strict, because the average observer believed everyone deserved the highest score, and the skis presented themselves. Beautifully and elegantly.
British player Sir J Miller scored the lowest penalty points – 3; II-III was taken by: Prince Filip and Swiss Dubey, 3 points each, 4 and 5 points, ex aequo by two Poles, Z. Szymoniak and Z. Waliszewski, 4 points each. As a team, Great Britain leads 11 points, and is ahead of Poland and Switzerland by 15 points each. “
The full round of the competition, which was held in fine weather in 1975, also included a dressage, marathon and hurdle competition. And these three stages of competition in the European Championship changed the rating dramatically – the best drivers were … the Hungarians.
“Representatives of 9 countries fought for five days for medals in the equestrian field still not popular in Poland – chariot driving. It was not very popular until August 27, because from that day on – you can say without exaggeration – the horse-drawn carriages invaded Tri -City. Perhaps this is the way to decide, since the horse-racing track, where the competition was held, was attended by several thousand spectators during the two most interesting days, and there were countless spectators on the marathon route. (…) We waited with interest for the day of the marathon, i.e. driving sledges on a 32 km road on bumpy roads, the seashore, on the water, etc. Of the 31 teams, 5 teams withdrew as a result of accidents (broken wheels, defects in the belt or horses were simply rejected To overcome various obstacles. Three Hungarians won in this tough competition (…). Our competitors held high places – Musiał IV, Szymoniak V, Waliszewski VI, and Czermiński VII. They can take away the gold medal from them “- stated” Przegląd Sportowy. ” In the competition, Hungary eventually outperformed Poland, and y The third place went to Germany, and the next largest teams were occupied by Czechoslovakia and Switzerland. Britain and the Netherlands.
“Out of curiosity, Prince Philip, FEI president, came in at number 21. In any case, he relied on points along with Bowman in the team, because his horse, Lt. Colonel Sir Miller, had not finished the marathon – he accurately mentioned ‘PS’, because The version has been repeated in recent days in various places that the Polish press is discreetly ignoring the place of Prince Philip is not true. In any case, it would be an insult to him as a player … because that is not what the sport is about.
The recently deceased wife of Queen Elizabeth II was at the helm of the International Equestrian Federation for 22 years, “Przegląd Sportowy” in short notes, but in the following years she reported the situation in this organization. For example, in 1976, on the front page, next to the text about Wojciech Feibac’s excellent performance in the Masters, you could read that “Prince Philip will continue to serve as President of the International Equestrian Federation”. Philip Mountbatten was president of the federation until 1986, and handed the job to his daughter – Princess Anna. Because the role (and what it does) this sport has played in the British royal family – especially as it relates to horses – is probably not well known and remembered a lot in our country. Because Princess Anna, the younger sister of the current heir to the throne – Prince Charles, just one year after the events described in Sopot, became the first member of the royal family to participate in the Olympic Games as an athlete. In Montreal in 1976, at the age of 26, she entered a dressage competition. However, the greatest sporting success of the British royal family occurred after 36 years – in London in 2012, at the team event (World Horse Riding Competition), she won the silver medal by Zara Phillips, daughter of Princess Anna and granddaughter of the Prince. Philip.
Date created: Apr 17, 2021, 08:35
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