Three-time Olympic show jumper Kathy Kusner was inducted into to the World Sports Humanitarian Hall of Fame on June 8 at the Boise Center on the Grove in Boise, Idaho.

“I don\’t need to tell you that the World Sports Humanitarian Hall of Fame is as good as it gets,” Kusner told a sold-out crowd. “I cannot thank you enough.”

Kusner and her program, “Horses in the Hood,” dedicated to high-risk youth in Los Angeles, caught the eye of the selection committee. Thanks to Kusner\’s efforts, more than 450 young people in Los Angeles have learned the value of responsibility and discipline through working with horses.

Kusner, who now lives in West Hollywood, Calif., was only 21 when she was chosen to ride on the U.S. Equestrian Team, and she\’d ride in three Olympics, including the 1972 Games in Munich, where she was part of the silver-medal team. She also won team gold and silver medals in the Pan Am Games and rode on numerous Nations Cup teams, and she was the first licensed female jockey in the United States.

In 1990 Kusner was inducted into the Show Jumping Hall of Fame, and in 1999 the Chronicle staff named her one of the “50 Most Influential Horsemen of the 20th Century.” In January she was given a Pegasus Medal of Honor by the USEF, an award given to those “who have exhibited outstanding service to horses and the sport and who, through their dedication, have attracted people to the sport and contributed to horse sport by advancing its popularity.”

The Humanitarian Hall of Fame, located on the Boise State University campus, annually inducts individuals who are world-class in athletic ability, role models in their community, and have a strong record of humanitarian efforts. Since President Gerald R. Ford served as its first honorary chairman in 1994, more than 30 sports-humanitarians have been enshrined, including tennis great Arthur Ashe, baseball pioneer Jackie Robinson, and soccer great Pelé.