Capt.
Mark Phillips to Retire in 2012; Search Committee Forming to Find Successor
By Joanie Morris
Lexington,
KY – At the conclusion of 2012 the US Eventing Program will undergo a significant
change. After 20 years, Capt. Mark Phillips has announced his retirement
as Chef d’Equipe and Technical Advisor following the London Olympic Games
to “give someone else the opportunity to put their stamp on the program.”
To
date, Capt. Phillips has led the Eventing Team to 23 Team and Individual
medals during his time at the helm of the program. Highlights include Team Silver
and Individual Bronze at the 1996 Olympic Games, Team Bronze and Individual Gold
at the 2000 Olympic Games, Team Bronze and Individual Silver at the 2004 Olympic
Games and Individual Silver at the 2008 Olympic Games. His teams also won Team
Gold at the Pan American Games in 1999, 2003 and 2007 and Team Gold at the 2002
World Equestrian Games. In
order to create a timely and seamless transition for the program, the process
for identifying Phillips’ successor has begun. The United States Equestrian
Federation (USEF) will announce the members of the Search Committee in the near
future. The search committee will include athletes, committee members and experts
in Equestrian sport. The
search committee’s initial responsibility will be to develop a job description
and timeline to integrate the new person into the eventing program to insure that
our athlete’s access to world class coaching is not interrupted.
The USEF anticipates
posting the position in 2010. ENDS
For more information,
please contact Sara Ike at sara.ike@usef.org.
The vision of the United States Equestrian Federation® is to
provide leadership for
equestrian sport in the United States of America by promoting the pursuit of
excellence from the grassroots to the Olympic Games, based on a foundation
of fair, safe competition and the welfare of
its human and equine athletes.
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