Ian Millar

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title: "Ian Millar" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["show-jumping-riders", "canadian-show-jumping-riders", "canadian-male-equestrians", "olympic-equestrians-for-canada", "equestrians-at-the-1972-summer-olympics", "equestrians-at-the-1976-summer-olympics", "equestrians-at-the-1984-summer-olympics", "equestrians-at-the-1988-summer-olympics", "equestrians-at-the-1992-summer-olympics", "equestrians-at-the-1996-summer-olympics", "equestrians-at-the-2000-summer-olympics", "equestrians-at-the-2004-summer-olympics", "equestrians-at-the-2008-summer-olympics", "equestrians-at-the-2012-summer-olympics", "equestrians-at-the-1979-pan-american-games", "equestrians-at-the-1983-pan-american-games", "equestrians-at-the-1987-pan-american-games", "equestrians-at-the-1991-pan-american-games", "equestrians-at-the-1999-pan-american-games", "equestrians-at-the-2007-pan-american-games", "equestrians-at-the-2011-pan-american-games", "equestrians-at-the-2015-pan-american-games", "members-of-the-order-of-canada", "medalists-at-the-2008-summer-olympics", "olympic-silver-medalists-for-canada", "olympic-medalists-in-equestrian", "equestrians-from-ontario", "sportspeople-from-halifax,-nova-scotia", "sportspeople-from-lanark-county", "canadian-people-of-scottish-descent", "1947-births", "living-people", "pan-american-games-gold-medalists-for-canada-in-equestrian", "pan-american-games-silver-medalists-for-canada-in-equestrian", "pan-american-games-bronze-medalists-for-canada-in-equestrian", "medalists-at-the-1987-pan-american-games", "medalists-at-the-1991-pan-american-games", "medalists-at-the-1999-pan-american-games", "medalists-at-the-2015-pan-american-games", "20th-century-canadian-sportsmen"] description: "Canadian equestrian" topic_path: "geography/canada" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Millar" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Canadian equestrian ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox equestrian"]

Field	Value
name	Ian Millar
honorific_suffix
image	Ian Millar head.jpg
imagesize	240px
fullname	Ian Millar
nationality
discipline	Show jumping
birth_date
birth_place	Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
height
weight	167 lb
show-medals	yes
::

| name = Ian Millar | honorific_suffix = | image = Ian Millar head.jpg | imagesize = 240px | fullname = Ian Millar | nationality = | discipline = Show jumping | birth_date = | birth_place = Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada | height = | weight = 167 lb | show-medals = yes | medaltemplates = ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ad/Olympic_rings.svg"] ::

Ian Millar CM (born January 6, 1947) is a Canadian Equestrian Team athlete for show jumping. He is a two-time winner of the Show Jumping World Cup, and an Olympic silver medallist. Due to his longevity and accomplishments, he is often nicknamed "Captain Canada" in his sport. He holds the record for most Olympic appearances by any athlete in any sport (10), shared with Georgian shooter Nino Salukvadze. A member of Canada's 2012 Olympic Games team, he broke the record when he took part in his tenth Games in London 2012.

Biography

Millar was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He operates "Millar Brooke Farm" near the small town of Perth, Ontario, alongside his children Jonathon Millar and Amy Millar, and daughter-in-law Kelly Soleau-Millar.

In 1986 he was made a Member of the Order of Canada, and in 1996 was inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame. In 2013, he was inducted into the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame.

He has a degree in business administration from Algonquin College, and received an honorary doctorate from the University of Guelph.

His wife Lynn died of cancer in March 2008.

Equestrian career

Millar is a twelve-time winner of the Canadian Show Jumping Championship. He has been a staple on the Canadian Equestrian Team for decades, and has amassed over $3.5 million in prize earnings at the prestigious Spruce Meadows venue in Calgary, Alberta.

With his horse, Big Ben (1976–1999), Millar won more than 40 Grand Prix titles worldwide and the Show Jumping World Cup two years in a row (1988 & 1989). At the Pan American Games in August 1987, Ian Millar became the second Canadian to win an individual gold medal. He now has nine Pan American Games medals, including two individual golds. He holds the North American record for Grand Prix and Derby wins. He was a member of every Canadian Equestrian Team at the Show Jumping World Championships from 1972 to 2014. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, Millar competed at his tenth games (his first having been in 1972, having only missed the 1980 Games due to the US-led boycott against the Soviet Union), breaking the record set by Hubert Raudaschl.

On 18 August, at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, at the age of 61, Millar anchored his team (also including Jill Henselwood, Eric Lamaze, and Mac Cone) to a first-place standing. Riding In Style, he completed a faultless round to lead the Canadian team into a jump-off for gold with the United States. Ultimately Canada would finish behind the American team to capture silver – Millar's first Olympic medal.

Millar was named to the 2012 Olympic team, making that appearance, his tenth, a record for any Olympic athlete's appearances at Olympics. In the 2012 Olympics' Individual Jumping event, Millar finished in a three-way tie for ninth aboard his gelding Star Power, the best Canadian result. In Team Jumping, Millar, along with fellow riders Jill Henselwood and Eric Lamaze, scored a fifth-place finish for Canada.

On September 14, 2014, Millar won the $1.5-million CP International at Spruce Meadows aboard Dixson, who shares bloodlines with Big Ben. This was the third time he had won the class, having won previously in 1987 and 1991 with Big Ben.

On July 23, 2015, Millar won a gold medal in the Pan American Games team jumping event.

On May 1, 2019, Millar announced his retirement from international competition to re-focus his attention on coaching and developing young horses.

International championship results

::data[format=table]

Results	Year	Event	Horse	Placing	Notes
1972	Olympic Games	The Shoeman	6th	Team
1976	Olympic Games	Count Down	5th	Team
1979	Pan American Games	Brother Sam		Team
	Individual
1980	World Cup Final	Year of the Cat	14th
1980	World Championships	Brother Sam		Team
RET	Individual
1982	World Championships	Wunderbar	5th	Team
49th	Individual
1983	Pan American Games	Foresight		Team
5th	Individual
1984	World Cup Final	Wotan	18th
1984	Olympic Games	Big Ben	4th	Team
14th	Individual
1985	World Cup Final	Big Ben	8th
1986	World Cup Final	Big Ben
1986	World Championships	Big Ben	4th	Team
10th	Individual
1987	World Cup Final	Big Ben	5th
1987	Pan American Games	Big Ben		Team
	Individual
1988	World Cup Final	Big Ben
1988	Olympic Games	Big Ben	4th	Team
15th	Individual
1989	World Cup Final	Big Ben
1990	World Cup Final	Czar	12th
1991	World Cup Final	Czar	15th
1992	World Cup Final	Big Ben	40th
1992	Olympic Games	Big Ben	9th	Team
54th	Individual
1993	World Cup Final	Future Vision	37th
1994	World Equestrian Games	Future Vision	7th	Team
27th	Individual
1996	Olympic Games	Play It Again	16th	Team
47th	Individual
1997	World Cup Final		28th
1998	World Equestrian Games	Mont Cenis	10th	Team
39th	Individual
1999	Pan American Games	Ivar		Team
	Individual
2000	World Cup Final	Ivar	30th
2000	Olympic Games	Dorincord	9th	Team
13th	Individual
2003	Pan American Games	Promise Me	5th	Team
7th	Individual
2004	Olympic Games	Promise Me	22nd	Individual
2005	World Equestrian Games	In Style	13th	Team
90th	Individual
2007	Pan American Games	In Style		Team
4th	Individual
2008	Olympic Games	In Style		Team
22nd	Individual
2009	World Cup Final	In Style	15th
2011	Pan American Games	Star Power	4th	Team
24th	Individual
2012	Olympic Games	Star Power	5th	Team
9th	Individual
2014	World Equestrian Games	Dixson	8th	Team
36th	Individual
2015	Pan American Games	Dixson		Team
16th	Individual
EL = Eliminated; RET = Retired; WD = Withdrew
::

References

References

1. {{cite Sports-Reference
2. (July 6, 2012). "London 2012: Canada's Ian Millar to compete at record 10th Games". BBC Sport.
3. (July 13, 2016). "Ian Millar thrilled to pass Olympic show-jumping torch to daughter Amy". National Post.
4. "Ian Millar". [[Ontario Sports Hall of Fame]].
5. (2008-03-07). "Ian Millar's wife passes away".
6. (November 8, 2014). "Ian Millar Claims 2014 Greenhawk Canadian Show Jumping Championship Title". Ontario Equestrian.
7. "Spruce Meadows Athletes".
8. Doug Smith. (August 18, 2008). "Millar finally gets Olympic medal in show jumping at 61". [[Toronto Star]].
9. TSN, (April 18, 2012) ([https://www.tsn.ca/story/print/?id=393515 "Top 12 Canadian reasons to watch London in 2012"], CTVOlympics.ca, Retrieved May 29, 2012
10. CBC, (September 14, 2014) ([http://www.cbc.ca/sports/ian-millar-wins-cp-international-at-spruce-meadows-1.2766199 "Ian Millar wins CP International at Spruce Meadows"], cbc.ca, Retrieved September 15, 2014
11. (September 15, 2014). "Ian Millar Wins $1.5 Million CP International, Presented by Rolex - Ontario Equestrian". Ontario Equestrian.
12. The Globe and Mail (July 23, 2015) ([https://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/more-sports/ian-millar-leads-canada-to-gold-in-team-equestrian-at-pan-am-games/article25650885/ "Ian Millar leads Canada to gold in team equestrian at Pan Am Games"], theglobeandmail.com, Retrieved July 26, 2015
13. Showjumping, www worldofshowjumping com, World of. "Ian Millar announces retirement from international competition {{!}} World of Showjumping".

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