For the New Zealand ice speed skater with the same name see Andrew Nicholson (speed skater)
Andrew Nicholson (born 1 August 1961 in Te Awamutu

Te Awamutu

Te Awamutu is a town in the Waikato in the North Island of New Zealand. It is the council seat of the Waipa District and serves as a service town for the farming communities which surround it...

) is a New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 horseman who was selected for six Olympic Games

Olympic Games

The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...

.

Nicholson's greatest success at international level has been in Three-Day Event

Eventing

Eventing is an equestrian event comprising dressage, cross-country, and show jumping. This event has its roots in a comprehensive cavalry test requiring mastery of several types of riding...

 Teams. He won a gold medal at the 1990 World Equestrian Games

World Equestrian Games

The FEI World Equestrian Games are the major international championships for equestrianism, and administered by the Fédération Equestre Internationale . The games have been held every four years, halfway between sets of consecutive Summer Olympic Games, since 1990...

 in Stockholm

Stockholm

Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...

, a silver at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona

Barcelona

Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...

 and a Bronze at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. He is infamous for his ride on Spinning Rhombus at Barcelona. With the New Zealand team having nine rails in hand to win the Gold medal his horse knocked down nine rails to drop New Zealand to second behind arch-rivals Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. Andrew competed at the 2010 WEG (world equestrian games) and received a bronze medal!

Full Olympic record:

• 1984
  Equestrian at the 1984 Summer Olympics
  The Equestrian Events at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics included Show Jumping, Dressage and Eventing. All three disciplines had both individual and team competitions.-Medal summary:-Medal table:-References:*...
  
  : Individual 28th on Kahlua; Team 6th
• 1992
  Equestrian at the 1992 Summer Olympics
  The Equestrian Events at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics included Dressage, Eventing, and Show Jumping. All three disciplines had both individual and team competitions.-Medals:-Medallists:-References:*...
  
  : Individual 16th on Spinning Rhombus; Team Silver
• 1996
  Equestrian at the 1996 Summer Olympics
  The Equestrian events were held at the Georgia International Horse Park in Conyers, United States, -Medal summary:-Medal table:-References:*...
  
  : Individual retired on Buckley Province; Team (on Jagermeister II) Bronze
• 2000
  Equestrian at the 2000 Summer Olympics
  The Equestrian Events at the 2000 Sydney Olympics included Dressage, Eventing, and Show Jumping. All three disciplines had both individual and team competitions.-Medals:-Event Summary:-Riders:*Imtiaz Anees*David O'Connor *Andrew Hoy*Mark Todd...
  
  : Selected but did not compete as horses were not fit
• 2004
  Equestrian at the 2004 Summer Olympics
  The events of the Equestrian at the 2004 Summer Olympics featured three equestrian disciplines: dressage, eventing and jumping. All three disciplines are further divided into individual and team contests for a total of six events....
  
  : Individual 61st; Team 5th
• 2008
  Equestrian at the 2008 Summer Olympics
  Equestrian competitions at the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics were held from August 9 to August 21 at the Hong Kong Sports Institute and Sheung Yue River in Hong Kong. It was the second time the equestrian events were hosted by a member of the IOC other than the member hosting the main games...
  
  : Individual, eliminated in cross-country; Team 5th

On 17 June 2008 it was announced that Nicholson had been selected

New Zealand at the 2008 Summer Olympics

New Zealand took part in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. The country sent 182 competitors, making this its largest ever delegation to the Olympic Games. It was also one of the most successful, equalling New Zealand's combined medal tally from the previous two games...

 to compete at the 2008 Olympic Games. He and Mark Todd

Mark Todd (equestrian)

Mark James Todd, CBE is a New Zealand horseman noted for his accomplishments in the discipline of eventing, voted Rider of the 20th Century by the International Federation for Equestrian Sports, Mark James Todd, CBE (born 1 March 1956) is a New Zealand horseman noted for his accomplishments in the...

, whose selection was announced at the same time, will be the first New Zealanders to compete at six Olympic Games.

Nicholson's best individual results have been at Burghley

Burghley

Burghley may refer to:*William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley , chief minister of queen Elizabeth I of England*Burghley House, a sixteenth century country house in Lincolnshire, built for the above...

 which he has won twice; on Buckley Province in 1995 and on Mr Smiffy in 2000.

Biography

Born and raised in the Waikato

Waikato

The Waikato Region is a local government region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato, Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsula, the northern King Country, much of the Taupo District, and parts of Rotorua District...

 Nicholson moved to England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

in the 1980s to further his equestrian career. He currently works there as a horse trainer.