Lesley McNaught-Mändli

Brought up on a farm in Leicestershire, England, Lesley McNaught was acknowledged as the “Golden Girl” of British show jumping in the early eighties whilst under the tutelage of the legendary trainer Ted Edgar. She was European Junior Champion in 1981 and was favoured for a place on the British team at the LA Games but, after three years, her working relationship with the notoriously irascible Edgar broke down and she left the stable in 1984. This signalled a downward pattern in her results which continued until she moved Switzerland to take a job with Willi Melliger. It was there that she began a relationship with rider Markus Mändli, brother of the more famous Beat Mändli who eventually became her husband.

With her career again on the rise, she applied for Swiss citizenship and became a regular member of the Swiss team. She made her Olympic debut in 1992, helped her adopted nation win European Championship gold in 1993 and 1995, silver at the 1999 Europeans and at the Sydney Olympics. She also won an individual bronze in 1999 and was twice Swiss champion and won numerous competitions across Europe.

An all round horsewoman, she was also successful at harness racing and served as the show jumping coach to the Swiss eventing team for the last three years of her life.