TORONTO, Canada--Captain Canada Ian Millar, 71, who holds the record for most Olympic appearances by any athlete in any sport,was honored for his contributions to show jumping during the Royal Winter Fair following his retirement last May.
Millar, born Jan. 6, 1947, a Canadian Show Jumping Team rider for decades is a two-time winner of the Show Jumping World Cup and an Olympic silver medalist.
A member of Canada's 2012 Olympic Games team, he broke the record when he took part in his 10th Games in London 2012.
Millar was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
He operates "Millar Brooke Farm" near the small town of Perth, Ontario along with his children Jonathon Millar and Amy Millar, and daughter-in-law Kelly Soleau-Millar.
He is a 12 time winner of the Canadian Show Jumping Championship, has been a staple on the Canadian Equestrian Team for decades, and has amassed over $3.5 million in prize earnings at the prestigious Spruce Meadows venue in Calgary, Alberta..
WITH HIS horse, Big Ben (1976–1999), Millar won more than 40 Grand Prix titles worldwide and the Show Jumping World Cup two years in a row in 1988 & 1989.
At the Pan American Games in August 1987, Millar became the second Canadian to win an individual gold medal.
He now has nine Pan American Games medals, including two individual golds.
He holds the North American record for Grand Prix and Derby wins.
He was a member of every Canadian Equestrian Team at the Show Jumping World Championships from 1972 to 2014.
At the 2012 Summer Olympics, Millar competed at his 10th games, breaking the record set by Hubert Raudaschl.
On Aug. 18, at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, at the age of 61, Millar anchored his team that including Jill Henselwood, Eric Lamaze, and Mac Cone to a tie for first place.
Riding In Style, he completed a clean round to lead the Canadian team into a jump-off for gold with the United States.
Canada lost to the American team to win the silver medal, Millar's first Olympic medal.
Millar was named to the 2012 Olympic team, making that appearance, his 10th, a record for any Olympic athlete's appearances at Olympics.
In the 2012 Olympics' Individual Jumping event, Millar finished in a three-way tie for 9th aboard his gelding Star Power, the best Canadian result.
In Team Jumping, Millar, along with fellow riders Jill Henselwood and Eric Lamaze, scored a fifth-place finish for Canada.
On Sept. 14, 2014, Millar won the $1.5 million International at Spruce Meadows on Dixson, who shares bloodlines with Big Ben, making it the third time he had won the class, having won previously in 1987 and 1991 with Big Ben.
On July 23, 2015, Millar won a gold medal in the Pan American Games team jumping event.
On May 1, 2019, Millar announced his retirement from international competition to re-focus his attention on coaching and developing young horses.
In 1986 he was made a Member of the Order of Canada, in 1996 was inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame and in 2013, he was inducted into the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame.
He has a degree in Business Administration from Algonquin College and received an honorary doctorate from the University of Guelph.
His wife Lynn died of cancer in March 2008.