Stockdale is one of the best known faces of British Show Jumping
British Show Jumper, Tim Stockdale, has fractured his neck in two places after falling off a young horse on Monday.
This injury could potentially rule Stockdale out of the 2012 London Games after he was named in the Guardian's 100 British medal hopefuls earlier this year.
This injury could potentially rule Stockdale out of the 2012 London Games after he was named in the Guardian's 100 British medal hopefuls earlier this year.
Stockdale was rushed to Shrewsbury Hospital after the accident, suffering from concussion, and has now been admitted to the spinal unit in Oswestry where he will remain for the foreseeable future. Tests have been conducted on Stockdale with the results expected to be released soon but, for the meantime, there is relief that he has a full range of movement and feeling in his upper body.
Messages of support have been flooding in from Show Jumping fans across the country via Twitter with many still hanging on to the hope of seeing Stockdale competing at the Olympics, on home soil, next year.
Stockdale first represented Great Britain in 1988 and he has now represented his country on no less than fourty-seven occasions in the Nations’ Cup teams including the 2002 World Equestrian Games, the 2008 Olympic Games in China and the 2009 European Championships.
In early 2010, he served as Chef d’Equipe for the victorious Great Britain team in the Nations’ Cup contest in Abu Dhabi and since then Stockdale has been presented with the British Equestrian Federation’s Medal of Honour.
Stockdale had spoken to the Guardian about his training plans for the 2012 Olympics just a few months ago and he commented that he would be trying to keep his horse, Kalico Bay, in perfect shape:
"The next 12 months will be about ensuring my horse is capable of consistently performing at the top level. I need to to ensure I am capable of preparing Kalico for competition on a set day and for the big ones. That is what needs to be proved to the selectors: that I am capable of getting him to perform at the Olympics."
This training schedule has obviously been halted with the injury suffered by Stockdale but if his recovery and rehabilitation goes smoothly, there could still be hope for an Olympic medal on the horizon.
Stockdale's Achievements
- 2008
- CSI3* Nantes: 1st Grand Prix (Fresh Direct Corlato)
- Qualified for World Cup Final 2008
- 2007
- CSI3* Nantes: 1st Grand Prix (Fresh Direct Corlato)
- CSI-W Bordeaux: 1st Grand Prix (Fresh Direct Corlato)
- Unex Towerlands Premier Show: 1st 1.35m Open (Drossage)
- Addinton Manor: 1st British Open qualifier (Animation II)
- British Open: 1st Winter Premier Grand Prix (Fresh Direct Corlato)
- Royal Windsor: 1st Grand Prix (Fresh Direct Corlato), 2nd Grade A comp (FD Corlato)
- East of England: 1st & 2nd Accumulator (Animation II & Una Van Berkenbroeck)
- Member Nations Cup Teams: Rome 1st, St Gallen (Fresh Direct Corlato), Spruce Meadows (Fresh Direct Animation)
- British Team Appearances 2002-2006
- 2006: Member of Nations Cup: Lisbon =2nd (Fresh Direct Corlato)
- 2005: Member Nations Cup Team: Gijon 5th (Corlato)
- 2004: Member Nations Cup Team: Copenhagen 6th (Fresh Direct Cloudy Night)
- 2003: Member Nations Cup Team: Rome 3rd; St Gallen 4th (Fresh Direct Parcival);
Gijon 2nd (Fresh Direct Jerome) - 2002: Member Nations Cup Team: La Baule: 7th (Parcival); Lucerne 4th (Parcival)
Selected for World Equestrian Games Team in Jerez (Fresh Direct Parcival)
Stockdale's 'Road to recovery' has begun
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