Harvey Smith
Olympic athlete
1938 –
Who is Harvey Smith?
Harvey Smith is a former British show jumping champion.
Smith was born in the West Riding of Yorkshire, and still maintains his stables at Craiglands Farm, High Eldwick, Bingley, near Bradford. He stood out from the ranks of showjumpers because of his broad accent and blunt manner. His career was often controversial; in 1971 he was disciplined after he gave a "V sign" to the judges following a near perfect round which won him the British Show Jumping Derby for the second year in succession and also a 'tongue-in-cheek' part in an advert for Victory V sweets with the slogan 'They've got a kick like a mule'!. Smith became so famous that he embarked on a brief, but unsuccessful, singing career. His son, Robert, also became an equestrian champion.
Competing in two Summer Olympics, Smith's best finish was fourth in the individual show jumping event at Munich in 1972. He later became a television commentator for the British Broadcasting Corporation, doing equestrian coverage at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
In 1989 Smith was honoured for being the first man to have jumped in 100 Volvo World Cup Qualifying Rounds.
During the 1970s in his spare time he competed in professional wrestling. In 1975 Smith also made a record titled "True Love".
We need you!
Help us build the largest biographies collection on the web!
- Born
- Dec 29, 1938
Yorkshire - Spouses
- Children
- Nationality
- United Kingdom
- Profession
- Lived in
- Bingley
Submitted
on July 23, 2013
Citation
Use the citation below to add to a bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Harvey Smith." Biographies.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.biographies.net/people/en/harvey_smith_1938>.
Discuss this Harvey Smith biography with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In