Canadian Olympic gold medalist Eric Lamaze of Montreal, Quebec retired at the age of 53 on Thursday according to Stephen Hunt of CTV News. The veteran equestrian rider won the gold medal for Canada in show jumping at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, and was one of three gold medalists from those Games. He was joined by the Canadian men’s eights rowing team and freestyle wrestler Carol Huynh of New Hazelton, British Columbia.
A major reason why Lamaze retired is because of health reasons. He is currently battling brain cancer.
In addition to winning Olympic gold, Lamaze won two other Olympic medals. He won the silver medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing in team equestrian with Mac Cone of King City, Ontario, Ian Millar of Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Jill Henselwood of Ottawa, Ontario. Then at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Lamaze won bronze in team show jumping. When Lamaze won his first two Olympic medals it was on the horse Hickstead. When Lamaze won his third Olympic medal, it was on the horse Fine Lady 5.
Lamaze also won the bronze medal at the 2010 World Equestrian Games in Lexington, Kentucky, and the gold medal in team jumping at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto with Millar, Yann Candele of Caledon, Ontario, and Tiffany Foster of Vancouver, British Columbia. In 2021, Lamaze was inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame.
