Gina SMITH

Gina Smith took up equestrianism in 1969 and, by 1981, she was working under Cindy Neale-Ishoy. Three years later she made the Canadian national team and was reserve at the 1984 Summer Olympics, but did not compete in her first major international tournament until a 1986 precursor to the World Equestrian Games, where she finished fifth in the team dressage. Her next stop was the 1988 Olympic Games, where she won bronze in the team event (alongside Neale-Ishoy, Eva-Maria Pracht, and Ashley Nicoll-Holzer) and placed 12th individually. She enjoyed more success at the 1991 Pan American Games, where she earned gold in the team event with Nicoll-Holzer, Leslie Reid, and Lorraine Stubbs). She did not fare as well at the 1996 Summer Olympics, placing 10th in the team event alongside Leonie Bramall and Evi Strasser and 44th individually, but earned her first Canadian title the following year. She retired from active competition in the 2000s and is, as of 2012, the head trainer at Franklands Farms in Brockville, Ontario. Among many honors, she was named Saskatchewan Athlete of the Year and inducted into the Saskatoon Sports Hall of Fame in 1989.