Awards '06
Zara Phillips: Sport
Zara Phillips, an elite standard equestrienne, was the 2006 World Champion in eventing and went on to win BBC Sports Personality of the Year. Despite her royal heritage, she has chosen to be as independent as possible and relies mainly on outside sources of funding to help further her career. In June 2003, Zara announced that she had secured a sponsorship deal with Cantor Index, which has continued to the present day. Unfortunately, her horse Toytown suffered a leg injury in the winter of 2003, shattering Zara's hopes of competing in the 2004 Athens Olympics. Despite this setback she became the European champion in 2005 and also won the team gold. In 2006 she won individual gold and team silver at the World Equestrian Games in Germany.
Zara Phillips attracted relatively little debate from the panel as the judges agreed that she was the “best in her field” and that her achievements had, at the time, gone relatively unrecognised. Some may argue that she has been able to do this because of her background, but the judges were firm in their view that she has managed to do this despite her background. The fact that she had become the world eventing champion, despite losing seconds through not hearing the bell over the roar of the crowd, and then went on to jump a clear round was a “truly remarkable sporting achievement.”
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International Federation for Equestrianism
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