Life-long ambition for Levett achieved at age 53
After decades of hard work as well as a series of highs and lows that go along with equestrian sport, Australia's Bill Levett has finally achieved his life-long dream of representing his country at a World Equestrian Games (WEG).
Aged 53 years old, Levett has been named as part of the three-day Eventing team that will contest the 2014 WEG - and he couldn't be more thrilled!
When asked what has kept him motivated over the years to reach his goal, his answer was simple.
"I enjoy training horses," he said.
"It has been a long held ambition of mine to represent Australia at WEG. Back in 1994 when I was first in the mix, I won the last selection trial and then my horse threw a splint at the last minute. It was on and off 3,4,5 times since and it's very depressing when that's gone on. But I do enjoy the sport, I enjoy training horses and so this (being selected on the team) is the icing on the cake.
Levett joins an experienced group of Olympic riders including Stuart Tinney (Sydney 2000 & Athens 2004), Shane Rose (Beijing 2008), Chris Burton (London 2012) and Sam Griffiths (London 2012). He believes they have the right mix to be amongst the medal hopefuls come WEG - but he knows the competition will be as tough as it gets.
"When you take a step back and look at the combinations going to WEG, it's going to be fiercely competitive to win medals. As a group we'll need to be on top of our game to be in the medal hunt, but we believe we have the ability to do that.
"We have six riders who are serious professionals, they have a really good chance of delivering a good result in all three phases. We'll need a bit of luck but we do know what sort of courses Pierre (Michelet) builds so we know what sort of things we're likely to encounter," he said.
The Eventing competition at 2014 World Equestrian Games gets underway on 28 August.
Newsletter
