Hugh Thomas

Hugh Thomas spent his entire adult career within the world of eventing. As a competitor he placed second at the Badminton Horse Trials, one of the three ”Grand Slam” events in the discipline, in 1976, and earned a bronze medal individually at the 1974 World Championships. He withdrew from the jumping phase at the Montreal Olympics after a fall on the cross- country course. After stepping away from competition, Thomas became a commentator for BBC television, a noted course designer who designed the course for the cross country phase of the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games and, in 1989, took over from Frank Weldon as the director of the Badminton Horse Trials. He kept the position at Badminton until his retirement in 2019.

It was during his tenure that Badminton attracted 200,000 spectators to its cross-country day, the second biggest paid attendance to a sporting event behind the Indianapolis 500 motor race. Thomas was on the eventing committee for the 2012 London Games but resigned over LOCOG’s decision to ban public entry to the horses’ veterinary inspection which was in defiance of FEI regulations.