Eva Maria PRACHT

Eva Maria Pracht moved from West Germany to Canada in 1981 and first represented her new country the following year, when she participated in the individual dressage category at a 1982 precusor to the World Equestrian Games. Two years later she competed at the 1984 Olympic Games, where she finished 7th in the team event (with Christilot Hanson-Boylen and Bonny Chesson) and 25th in the individual. Following appearances at the 1985 World Cup and another precursor to the World Equestrian Games in 1986, Pracht finally struck gold at the 1987 Pan American Games in the team dressage, alongside Pracht, her daughter Martina, Hanson-Boylen, and the non-Olympian Diana Billes. A new squad, consisting of Pracht, Cindy Neale-Ishoy, Ashley Nicoll-Holzer, and Gina Smith, went on to win bronze in this event at the 1988 Summer Olympics, while Pracht placed 29th in the individual competition. Having won her medal at the age of 51, Pracht remains, as of 2012, the oldest Canadian woman to have won an Olympic medal at the Summer Games. After unsuccessful appearance at the 1990 World Cup, Pracht retired from active competition and passed her horse, Emirage, to Martina, who would compete with him at the 1992 Summer Olympics.