Jackie Potts - Twenty Years of Olympic Games

Can you believe there is only ONE WEEK to go until the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games?!

To celebrate, we chatted with epic supergroom Jackie Potts, who first went to the Olympics 20 years ago!

One week turned into a lifetime career for Jackie after an agency she worked for sent her to William Fox Pitt for a week, only Jackie fell in love with the horses and never left!

Jackie has had an amazing career, over 30 years with William. During this time Jackie attending many Olympics with William where he won the team eventing Olympic Silver medal at both Athens 2004 and London 2012, and the bronze medal in Beijing 2008.

As well as having an amazing career working for William and more recently Japan’s Kazuma Tomoto, Jackie is hugely respected within the equestrian community, often mentoring grooms and being available to help wherever needed. Jackie, we salute you!

Jackie, can you tell us a little about your first Olympics?

"Well, where do I start? I would never have thought when William was selected to go to Athens Olympics in 2004, that it would have been my first of six Olympics (so far!). 

After selection there are the obvious questions; What do I need to take? How do we get there? What is expected when we are at the games?

As part of Team GB, I was very lucky in that a huge amount of organisation was all taken care of, but there was still a lot to do, so I started planning weeks ahead, from ordering supplements to planning vet, physio, and farrier visits.

One of the unique things about the Olympics is the 'kiting out' day. We were sent off to the official ‘kitting out warehouse’ with other Team GB athletes and each received several suitcases of sponsored clothing. Photos were taken and the whole day felt incredibly special.

I remember really feeling part of the team as everyone wore the same outfits every day, from the trot up to the awards ceremony.

Another difference with Athens was that I was able to fly with the horses, something grooms nowadays aren’t allowed to do, which is a shame as it is such an incredible experience. One of the great things we did there was to have a 'buddy system'. We were all paired up, so we had that one person to look out for - to ask them if they were ok that day, to keep an eye on them, and generally be a friend.”

A career to be proud of!

The Olympics in Athens was the first of many for Jackie....

• Athens 2004, William Fox Pitt with Tamarillo
• Bejing 2008, William Fox Pitt with Park more Ed
• London 2012, William Fox Pitt with Lionheart
• Rio 2016, William Fox Pitt with Chilli Morning
• Tokyo 2021, Kazuma Tomoto with Vinci de la Vigne
• Paris 2024, Kazuma Tomoto with Vinci de la Vigne

What is your proudest moment, Jackie?

“There are many, but I suppose one of my proudest moments was my first Olympics as it was an achievement. My family used to say to me ‘when are you going to get a proper job?’ and after Athens I could say ‘Does this count as a proper job now?”

Thanks, Jackie for looking back down memory lane with us.

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