When Steve Guerdat was 20 years old he succeeded Rolf Göran Bengtsson as stable jockey at Stal Tops, one of the world’s most profitable dealing yards. It was a plumb job. Ten years later, in September 2012, after having won the individual gold medal at the London Olympic Games, Steve succeeded the Swedish European Champion as World No 1. In between times, he rose like the Phoenix not once, but twice.
Guerdat Mini Me
When Steve was two years old his father Philippe went off to the Los Angeles Olympics to compete as a member of the Swiss jumping team. Dad returned with toddler-sized jodhpur boots, which Steve insisted on wearing 24/7. His mother would take them off after he had gone to sleep.
“If your father has done the Olympics you want to do them too,” Steve has said of his early ambitions.