Who is Annie Goodwin? All about the late equestrian who died riding her horse and was honored at Paris Olympics 2024

By Neelabhra Roy

Modified Jul 29, 2024 16:51 GMT

Annie Goodwin was a former equestrian who died in 2021 while training with her horse Bruno. Three years on, the horse featured in the Paris Olympics as it was ridden by Boyd Martin.

Goodwin competed with Bruno in eventing, and the pair finished sixth in the Kentucky Three-Day Event in 2021 (known as the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event back then), which is one of equestrian's five-star events.

However, that year, Goodwin died aged only 32 while riding her horse during a training session in her farm in South Carolina. Bruno fell following a miscalculation regarding a jump and the ensuing accident took the equestrian's life.

However, Annie Goodwin's horse was later ridden by Boyd Martin, who previously worked with her. Martin qualified for the Paris Olympics where he rode Bruno, officially called Fedarman B, in honor of the late equestrian.

The 44-year-old competed in the individual eventing event and qualified for the final after finishing 11th in the qualifying round. Here, he finished tenth. Martin was part of the USA team in team eventing, where they eventually ended in seventh position.

"I almost felt a bit guilty" - Boyd Martin on riding Annie Goodwin's horse at Paris Olympics 2024

Martin and Bruno ahead of the Paris Olympics (Source: Getty)

Speaking ahead of the Olympics, Boyd Martin said that he felt guilty about riding Annie Goodwin's horse given that the latter trained it. He also said that Goodwin's parents might have been thinking similarly.

“I almost felt a bit guilty like Annie had put in all the hard work and the training and, I'm sure with Annie's parents watching me, they would've – I'm sure deep down – they were thinking that really should be their daughter in the saddle,” Martin said.

The 44-year-old also said that people were cheering for Bruno more than himself due to the former's backstory

“This horse is amazing in our small sport, our small bubble. I think everyone's sort of cheering for this horse rather than me just because of his story and he's almost like a living monument for Annie's hard work and dedication and love for the sport," he added.

While Martin finished tenth in the individual jumping final, Germany's Michael Jung won gold with a penalty of just 21.8. Australia's Christopher Burton came second, having been penalized 22.4 while Great Britain's Laura Collett clinched bronze.