Karen Lende O'Connor

Karen O’Connor competed in five Olympics in equestrian, starting in 1988 when she was still Karen Lende. She later competed as Karen O’Connor in 1996, 2000, 2008, and 2012, after marrying US team member David O’Connor. She was first a member of US international teams at the 1986 World Championships in Australia, but began competing internationally in 1979 at the Badminton Championships.

O’Connor won two Olympic medals, a silver in team eventing in 1996 and a bronze in team eventing in 2000. At the 2007 Pan American Games, she won gold medals in both individual and team eventing. She also won silver individually at the 2003 Pan Ams. She won one medal at the World Championships, a bronze in 1998 at Roma with the team. In October 2012, O’Connor fell off her horse, sustaining a burst fracture of her T4 fracture and a compression fracture at T5, and underwent surgery a few days later. She made a brief return in early 2013, but then retired from competition.

O’Connor and her husband operate the O’Connor Equestrian, with locations in The Plains, Virginia and Ocala, Florida. Karen has been a member of the US Equestrian Federation Board of Directors. She and her husband were named Eventing Horsemen of the Year in 1996 by The Chronicle of the Horse journal.