Double Olympic gold medalist McLain Ward has shot from fourth to the top of the Longines Rankings, the world show jumping rankings. He accumulated seven FEI wins in May, most recently taking the $40,000 Devon International Speed Stake CSI**** with Tina la Boheme.
France’s Simon Delestre, who competed at his first Olympic Games at London 2012 and had held the world No. 1 spot since March, is now second, with Germany’s three-time Olympian Christian Ahlmann close behind in third.
Ward was the individual gold medalist at last summer’s Pan American Games (Canada) and has been named to the short list with HH Azur and Rothchild for the Hermès U.S. Show Jumping Team for Rio 2016.
“We are thrilled for McLain, his owners and his support team,” said Robert Ridland, the U.S. chef d’equipe. “He is an extremely talented rider who produces horses with care and attention to detail. This is wonderful recognition and a great boost for U.S. show jumping.”
Ward, Brewster, N.Y., first competed in an Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, in 2004, winning team gold. He went on to win team gold again at the Beijing 2008 Olympics Games, where equestrian was held in Hong Kong. He also represented the United States at the 2012 London Games.
