Long live the King!
Mary King, one of the stars of the 2012 Olympics, has the kind of chuckle that makes you instantly warm to her – and it punctuates our conversation.
‘The moment of winning a medal… It’s all a bit of a daze really,’ she says. Mary and her equestrian teammates came a very close second to the Germans in the team eventing. And since her teammates William Fox-Pitt and Nicola Wilson had both had a fence down by the time she climbed into the saddle in the final, all the pressure was on Mary. The nation held its breath.
‘I knew I had to go clear for us to win a medal,’ she explains. ‘I tried to think I was just jumping another round in any old training session. It’s a disaster if you let the “bigness” of the occasion affect how you ride.’
But Mary and her horse, Imperial Cavalier, secured Team GB a Silver medal. ‘Obviously we would have loved to have won Gold. We were so near, we could have done it. But we could also just have easily come away with nothing at all.’
The event attracted keen interest because of another of Mary’s team members: a certain Zara Phillips. Princess Anne, along with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, turned out to watch the Royal rider in action. But having trained together for so long, Mary is entirely unfazed by her Royal connections.
‘Zara is a normal person, and likes to be a normal person. We have different personalities and really I’m old enough to be her mother, but we get on like a house on fire. She’s very friendly,’ she reveals.
The image of the smiling equestrian team marked the start of Team GB’s impressive medal haul – the first Gold, for rowers Helen Glover and Heather Stanning, followed soon after – and we ended up winning 65 medals, including 29 Golds. It was a tally that earned Team GB third place on the medal table. Among the sea of young athletes, Mary became a poster girl for the older Olympians – an honour she finds quite amusing.
‘I just feel lucky to be involved in a sport in which you can compete when you’re quite old,’ she laughs. ‘In fact, as long as you’re fit and well in your body and still have your nerves, age is an advantage because it gives you a bit more experience.’
With a career spanning almost three decades, Mary has competed in six Olympics and has won more national and European titles than most athletes can dream of. So which have been her proudest moments?
‘London 2012, definitely,’ she replies without hesitation. ‘The support from the home crowd was just amazing.’
As well as being on home turf, it was the very British brand of conscientiousness that made it so special.
‘The Olympic village and all the locations had a fantastic feel. They were so well thought-out,’ she recalls. The organisation, design and locations came together to create a positive atmosphere for everyone. ‘All the athletes were so buoyant. Good old Great Britain.’
As with any keen rider, Mary – or ‘Mare’ as she is known to friends and family (‘It sounds like Mary and is a bit horsey’) – speaks about her charges as if they were people.
‘You and your horse form a fantastic partnership. You get to know each other inside out. You each know how the other is thinking and how you’re going to react in certain situations.’
She has been working with Imperial Cavalier for five years, although she does not actually own him. ‘We don’t earn enough money as event riders to own our own horses,’ she confesses. ‘I’m totally reliant on owners and sponsors.’ Mary is supported by the clothing company Joules and HSBC bank.
‘Even Zara, who I’m sure could afford her own horses, doesn’t own High Kingdom,’ Mary continues. ‘I think that’s why eventing has the impression of being an elitist sport, when really all the riders are just normal, down-to-earth people.’
Mary is keen to emphasise that Lottery funding has also been a huge help, enabling her to spend more time training rather than having to hold down another job. As well as an Olympic athlete, she is also a wife and mother, and has worked hard not to neglect that side of her life. ‘Now, I only tend to ride in the mornings,’ she says. ‘I’m married with a family so I like to be a mummy and wife in the afternoons.’
She is thrilled that her daughter is now following in her footsteps: ‘I feel very lucky that I can share this life with Emily and we can go together to horse trials.’ But she won’t become an overbearing ‘horsey mother’.
‘When she asks for help, I’ll give it, but I try and leave her alone to let her do her own thing. We all make mistakes, but that’s how you learn.’
Her 13-year-old son, Freddie, is less involved in the equine world, but he does delight in having a mother who is. ‘I think he’s finding the whole thing quite fun,’ she laughs. ‘It gives him good street cred at his age to have a mother in the Olympics. He gets lots of texts from girls.’
So what is next for this intrepid competitor? ‘There’s still the individual Gold medal. I would love to win that. I’m focusing on trying to get to the Rio Olympics in 2016.’
For any eventer, the other half of the team is vitally important. Imperial Cavalier will be too old to compete in 2016, so Mary is already on the lookout. ‘I’m going to see if I can find another potential superstar.’ Again, her enthusiasm bubbles over.
‘Although I’m older, I’m still fit and still very keen,’ she laughs. Clearly, we haven’t seen the last of Mary yet.
‘The moment of winning a medal… It’s all a bit of a daze really,’ she says. Mary and her equestrian teammates came a very close second to the Germans in the team eventing. And since her teammates William Fox-Pitt and Nicola Wilson had both had a fence down by the time she climbed into the saddle in the final, all the pressure was on Mary. The nation held its breath.
‘I knew I had to go clear for us to win a medal,’ she explains. ‘I tried to think I was just jumping another round in any old training session. It’s a disaster if you let the “bigness” of the occasion affect how you ride.’
But Mary and her horse, Imperial Cavalier, secured Team GB a Silver medal. ‘Obviously we would have loved to have won Gold. We were so near, we could have done it. But we could also just have easily come away with nothing at all.’
The event attracted keen interest because of another of Mary’s team members: a certain Zara Phillips. Princess Anne, along with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, turned out to watch the Royal rider in action. But having trained together for so long, Mary is entirely unfazed by her Royal connections.
‘Zara is a normal person, and likes to be a normal person. We have different personalities and really I’m old enough to be her mother, but we get on like a house on fire. She’s very friendly,’ she reveals.
The image of the smiling equestrian team marked the start of Team GB’s impressive medal haul – the first Gold, for rowers Helen Glover and Heather Stanning, followed soon after – and we ended up winning 65 medals, including 29 Golds. It was a tally that earned Team GB third place on the medal table. Among the sea of young athletes, Mary became a poster girl for the older Olympians – an honour she finds quite amusing.
‘I just feel lucky to be involved in a sport in which you can compete when you’re quite old,’ she laughs. ‘In fact, as long as you’re fit and well in your body and still have your nerves, age is an advantage because it gives you a bit more experience.’
With a career spanning almost three decades, Mary has competed in six Olympics and has won more national and European titles than most athletes can dream of. So which have been her proudest moments?
‘London 2012, definitely,’ she replies without hesitation. ‘The support from the home crowd was just amazing.’
As well as being on home turf, it was the very British brand of conscientiousness that made it so special.
‘The Olympic village and all the locations had a fantastic feel. They were so well thought-out,’ she recalls. The organisation, design and locations came together to create a positive atmosphere for everyone. ‘All the athletes were so buoyant. Good old Great Britain.’
As with any keen rider, Mary – or ‘Mare’ as she is known to friends and family (‘It sounds like Mary and is a bit horsey’) – speaks about her charges as if they were people.
‘You and your horse form a fantastic partnership. You get to know each other inside out. You each know how the other is thinking and how you’re going to react in certain situations.’
She has been working with Imperial Cavalier for five years, although she does not actually own him. ‘We don’t earn enough money as event riders to own our own horses,’ she confesses. ‘I’m totally reliant on owners and sponsors.’ Mary is supported by the clothing company Joules and HSBC bank.
‘Even Zara, who I’m sure could afford her own horses, doesn’t own High Kingdom,’ Mary continues. ‘I think that’s why eventing has the impression of being an elitist sport, when really all the riders are just normal, down-to-earth people.’
Mary is keen to emphasise that Lottery funding has also been a huge help, enabling her to spend more time training rather than having to hold down another job. As well as an Olympic athlete, she is also a wife and mother, and has worked hard not to neglect that side of her life. ‘Now, I only tend to ride in the mornings,’ she says. ‘I’m married with a family so I like to be a mummy and wife in the afternoons.’
She is thrilled that her daughter is now following in her footsteps: ‘I feel very lucky that I can share this life with Emily and we can go together to horse trials.’ But she won’t become an overbearing ‘horsey mother’.
‘When she asks for help, I’ll give it, but I try and leave her alone to let her do her own thing. We all make mistakes, but that’s how you learn.’
Her 13-year-old son, Freddie, is less involved in the equine world, but he does delight in having a mother who is. ‘I think he’s finding the whole thing quite fun,’ she laughs. ‘It gives him good street cred at his age to have a mother in the Olympics. He gets lots of texts from girls.’
So what is next for this intrepid competitor? ‘There’s still the individual Gold medal. I would love to win that. I’m focusing on trying to get to the Rio Olympics in 2016.’
For any eventer, the other half of the team is vitally important. Imperial Cavalier will be too old to compete in 2016, so Mary is already on the lookout. ‘I’m going to see if I can find another potential superstar.’ Again, her enthusiasm bubbles over.
‘Although I’m older, I’m still fit and still very keen,’ she laughs. Clearly, we haven’t seen the last of Mary yet.