NINA LAMSAM LIGON

Thai Olympic Equestrian

Nina Ligon and her horse Butts Leon will compete in the equestrian eventing at the London 2012 Olympics, from July 28 - 31 in Greenwich Park.

Media Factsheet
Nina Lamsam Ligon will compete for Thailand at the London 2012 Olympics in Equestrian Eventing, the triathlon of horse sports, the only events where men and women compete equally. She is a dual Thai/US citizen. Nina will be the first woman to represent an Asian nation in Olympic Eventing, and the youngest eventer at London 2012. In September, she will enter Stanford University in Palo Alto, California as a Freshman.

www.ninaligon.com @ninaligon Nina Ligon: Thai Eventer +44 7716391090 (English) +44 7743063993 (Thai)

THE SPORT In Eventing the rider competes on the same horse in three different disciplines over three days: dressage, cross country, and showjumping. The modern sport was developed as a test of horse and rider skills by the French cavalry in the late 19th Century. The sport celebrates its 100th Anniversary as an Olympic event at the London Games. The three equestrian sports, including Eventing, are the only Olympic events where men and women compete equally, both head to head and as team-mates. Prior to 1964, Eventing was an all male sport, and prior to 1952, was reserved exclusively to cavalry officers of the competing nations. AWARDS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS First woman to represent an Asian nation in Olympic Eventing (London 2012) Youngest competitor in Eventing at London 2012 (20 years old) HSBC/FEI (International Equestrian Federation) Rising Star Award winner, 2011 (presented to the 14-21 year old equestrian from any discipline and nation who best represents outstanding sporting talent and commitment) Thai Equestrian Federation Rider of the Year Award, 2011 US Eventing Association Young Rider of the Year Award for both 2010 and 2011 Team Silver Medal, and top Thai finisher (4th place), 16th Asian Games, Guangzhou, China, 2010 Individual and Team Gold Medal winner, 24th Southeast Asian Games, Pattaya, Thailand, 2007

NINA LAMSAM LIGON Thai Eventer

SCHOLAR ATHLETE Nina graduated Cum Laude from Collegiate School in Richmond, Virginia, in May, 2010, where she was named an AP Scholar with Honor. She was also a violinist in the Collegiate Orchestra for 13 years, and in her final year, she served as first violin and concertmaster. She was accepted to Stanford University in Palo Alto, California for the Fall of 2010 and granted a two year entrance deferral to pursue her Asian Games and Olympic quest on behalf of Thailand. OLYMPIC QUALIFICATION Nina qualified for the Olympics through the Individual Qualification System, based on the total points accumulated in a riders best five finishes in any of the roughly 100 Olympic qualifying events held worldwide between March 1, 2010 and March 1, 2011. Nina won three events (Elkton, MD; Pardubice, Czech Republic; and Hamilton, GA) and finished second in two others (Allentown, PA and Hamilton, GA). This allowed her to place 8th on the Olympic individual ranking for the year, thus granting Thailand the right to send a rider to the Games. Other countries qualifying riders based on individual points (18 riders total) included Australia, Ireland, Netherlands, Italy, Russia, Poland, Austria, and Belarus.

PERSONAL BACKGROUND Nina was born in Bangkok, Thailand in October, 1991, the third child of Austin Ligon and Pan Lamsam. Although she lived in Virginia during the school year, she spent a portion of every year in Thailand over the last twenty years, which helped keep her in touch with her Thai family, culture, and language. Her first riding experiences were on beach ponies at age three in Hua Hin, a seaside town south of Bangkok. She began riding lessons at five, competed in local horse shows, and participated in Pony Club through B level. At age 9 she began to ride Eventing, and at age 15 she won her first FEI One Star international competition against an open field of primarily adult riders. In the summer of that year, she competed in the FEI North American Junior and Young Riders Championships, the Junior Olympics competition for North America. Based on her strong performance that year, Nina was invited by the Thai Equestrian Federation to join the Thai team for the Southeast Asian Games in December 2007. This required that she make the permanent decision to ride internationally for Thailand; by doing so, she became the first female to ride in any international Eventing competition for an Asian nation, and her double gold made her the first female medalist. Since joining the Team, she has received the strong and consistent support of the Thai Equestrian Federation, the Sports Authority of Thailand and the Thai Olympic Committee. Nina is coached by former Olympic silver medalist Kim Severson (USA) and dressage trainer Gerd Zuther. Nina credits her presence at London 2012 to the great support she gets from Team Thailand, especially Head Groom Laura Hitchcock, and the international crew of horsewomen (and men), friends and family who have helped her in her journey to the Olympic Games. Most important of all are her riding partners: her Olympic horse, Butts Leon; and her three other great mounts, Fernhill Fearless, Jazz King, and Tipperary Liadhnan. Each horse contributed both competitions points and valuable learning experience to the Olympic qualification effort. WATCH NINA AND BUTTS LEON COMPETE AT GREENWICH PARK FROM JULY 28 - 31.