FEI Rising Star to ride for Thailand at Greenwich
Nina Lamsam Ligon, winner of the FEI’s HSBC Rising Star Award 2011, is to represent Thailand in eventing at the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Nina will be competing as an individual on Butts Leon, a four-star Hanoverian ridden by Andreas Dibowski on the German gold-winning medal team at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
Nina, who has dual Thai and American nationality, has been in the UK since April to prepare for the Games and give her four horses the chance to acclimatise.
The past few months have seen her compete at Houghton Hall, Bramham and Barbury Castle.
The FEI’s HSBC Rising Star Award rewards an equestrian athlete between the ages of 14 and 21 who demonstrates outstanding sporting talent and commitment.
Nina competed at her first eventing competition when she was nine and, six years later, rode on the USA junior team at the FEI North American Juniors and Young Riders Championships.
She joined the Thai National Team for the 2007 Southeast Asian Games in Pattaya, as its youngest and first female rider, winning individual gold and contributing to Thailand’s team gold win.
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The also helped the Thais win team silver at the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, China.
Nominations for all five categories of the FEI Awards (HSBC Rising Star, Reem Acra Best Athlete, Best Groom, Against All Odds and Development) are open until 31 July at www.feiawards.org.
A self-confessed newshound, farmer’s daughter and journalist of many years' experience, Charlotte worked on regional papers before joining H&H in 2007. A regular rider, she visited Ireland in 2010 to investigate the fate of Irish horses through the recession, to much acclaim, and reported from the FEI General Assembly in Rio de Janeiro in 2011. She left Horse & Hound in March 2013.