Anky van Grunsven

Anky and Olympic partner Salinero in action

When Anky first started riding, she was most interested in show jumping. But after convincing her father to buy Prisco, her first horse, she soon discovered the wild side to her new jumping partner. Unable to control his jumping, she took up dressage to channel his energy. But when she tried to reintroduce jumping to the horse, he would not comply, and she cut her losses and continued with dressage. The decision proved smart; it was aboard Prisco that she qualified for her first Olympic Games in 1988.

The Beijing Olympics was Anky's sixth Olympic appearance. She did not win a medal in her Olympic debut in 1988, but since then she has won a staggering eight medals. Three of those were individual gold - she has topped the tables at her last thee Olympic attemps.

Pregnant when she won her individual gold medal in Athens, she and her husband/trainer, Sjef Janssen had son Yannick Janssen in November 2004. A year later Sjef and Anky were married in Las Vegas. In March 2007, she gave birth to their daughter, Ava Eden.

"We never think we know everything," Anky once said. "Good is never good enough. Good should be superb."

In March 2008 Anky van Grunsven won her ninth World Cup, her third riding Salinero, her most recent Olympic champion. In 2007, the combination won two gold medals, adding to Anky's two prior gold medals at the competition. In 2006, she won her second world title, adding to her 1994 World gold.

Anky became the first Dutch rider to win a world championship when she claimed the individual dressage title in 1994. But she didn't stay on top for long, losing to her German rival Isabell Werth in the next four major events. She rebounded in 1999 when she won the European title.

Primarily a rider, trainer and clinician, van Grunsven also has her own clothing line, Anky Technical Casuals. Frustrated by the lack of fashion in the equestrian world, she started the company in 1999. Initially popular in Europe, her clothes are now sold all over the world.

In 2010, Anky was embroiled in a legal battle with website Eurodressage.com, when the site used a photograph of Anky to illustrate an article on rollkur. Eventually all action was dropped, but Anky was decidedly quiet on the dressage scene in 2010, gaining headlines for her success in reining instead.