America’s oldest living Olympic medalist died yesterday, aged 100 years, 7 months, 28 days. Colonel John Russell, born in 1920, medaled in team jumping in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. He spent his golden years providing opportunities for young people to compete in show jumping. 
As a young man, he served under General Patton in WWII.
In 2001, at age 81, he was inducted into the United States Show Jumping Hall of Fame, thanks to both his own competitive achievements and those of his students at the Russell Equestrian Center.
In 2001, at age 81, he was inducted into the United States Show Jumping Hall of Fame, thanks to both his own competitive achievements and those of his students at the Russell Equestrian Center.
His first horse was a workhorse named Old Bill. When his father wanted the family workhorse back, he bought young John a pony, which he transported to their home in the back seat of his sedan.
By age 16, he upgraded to a Thoroughbred purchased from a traveling circus.
By age 16, he upgraded to a Thoroughbred purchased from a traveling circus.
Aboard a Texas-bred quarter horse, Rattler, he was the first non-German to win the Hamburg Derby.
This shaped his belief in placing no limits on a horse’s potential—he didn’t tell his students they would need more expensive horses to jump big. He helped them train what they had.
This shaped his belief in placing no limits on a horse’s potential—he didn’t tell his students they would need more expensive horses to jump big. He helped them train what they had.
I don’t know the Colonel, but I knew of him—he was a living relic of a bygone time when horses were within reach for far more American families than they are today. He did his best to keep showjumping a sport that any driven, passionate kid and the horse they loved could do.
I don’t know what his beliefs about death were. But after 100 years of life, all of them spent with dearly beloved horses, if he believed in an afterlife he must be expecting quite the herd to welcome him.
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