Did Zara Tindall win an Olympic medal? You might be curious as the British victories in Paris have got us all thinking about past successes too.
The British team is having a brilliant Olympics so far in Paris and we’ve seen Princess Anne handing out plenty of medals so far in France in her role as an International Olympic Committee member. For those asking themselves "Did Princess Anne win an Olympic medal?" - the answer is sadly no, but she did compete in the 1976 Montreal Games and her daughter Zara went on to follow in her impressive footsteps. Zara is an accomplished professional equestrian whose career is still going strong and her achievements include several medals.
As the Paris Games continue to excite fans around the world, we have all the details about whether Zara Tindall ever won an Olympic medal, what else she’s won and whether she competed at Paris 2024.
Did Zara Tindall win an Olympic medal and when did she compete?
Zara Tindall became the first member of the British Royal Family to win an Olympic medal when she competed at the London 2012 Games riding High Kingdom. She was part of the British Equestrian Eventing Team, just like her mother Princess Anne had been at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, and took home a prestigious silver medal alongside the rest of the team.
If this wasn’t already special enough, Zara had her silver Olympic medal presented to her by none other than Princess Anne who looked utterly delighted to be awarding her daughter this immense honour.
Princess Anne missed out on a medal in 1976 and so Zara winning a team medal was likely a very heart-warming moment for her. The Princess Royal wasn’t the only one who watched Zara and the British Team compete their way to a silver medal. Also in the crowds were plenty more members of the Royal Family, including Zara’s cousins Princess Beatrice, Princess Eugenie, Prince William and Prince Harry, as well as the Princess of Wales.
They were all there cheering her on and the moment they saw that Zara had won was captured brilliantly in a throwback photo shared by Princess Eugenie following the start of the 2024 Paris Olympics.
“Some of my most favourite memories from 2012 was being on the side-lines cheering on our heroes. Not to mention, the best moment of all, watching my family win silver in eventing, goooo Z!” she declared proudly in the caption, alongside a snap of her and Beatrice with their hands thrown into the air in excitement.
When it came to the individual standings at the 2012 London Olympics, Zara came 8th and so it was overall a very successful Olympic Games for her and a highlight of her equestrian career.
Did Zara Tindall compete at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games?
Very sadly for royal fans, Zara Tindall didn’t compete at the 2024 Paris Olympics as she didn’t qualify to be part of the British Equestrian Team. In her absence in France, the British Eventing Team won the gold medal and Laura Collett took home an individual bronze too. After winning silver in 2012, Zara went on to reveal to The Telegraph in 2018 that she “would love to try for another Olympics” and described the atmosphere at her home Games in London as “incredible”.
Ultimately, Zara didn’t go on to compete at either the 2016 Rio Olympics or the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and so her silver winning performance in 2012 remains the only Olympic Games she has ever competed in. This is similar to Princess Anne, whose one and only Olympics was the 1976 Montreal Games. She was long-listed for the Olympic Games in Athens, but was unable to compete due to her horse experiencing an injury.
What other medals has Zara Tindall won?
Alongside her Olympic silver medal, Zara has won several other medals throughout her equestrian career, including a Team and Individual gold medal at the European Championships at Blenheim in 2005. In 2006 Zara won gold at the World Equestrian Games in Aachen in the individual eventing and also won a team silver. It was this year that saw her awarded an MBE and she became BBC Sport Personality of the Year too. In 2014, Zara returned to horse riding after welcoming her and Mike Tindall’s first child, Mia, and won a team silver medal at the World Equestrian Games in Normandy.
In April 2017 she came third, riding her Olympic silver-winning horse, High Kingdom, at the Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event. Zara then went on to achieve a first place at Aston Le Walls in August 2021 and, as part of the GB Eventing Team, won the Nations Cup at Aachen in 2021. Zara Tindall continues to compete to this day, with splendid results at Chatsworth in 2022, Lexington USA last year and at Badminton in 2024.
