Serena Williams might have fallen at the last hurdle in a bid to achieve a tennis calendar grand slam last week, but a British showjumper has completed his sport’s own Herculean test and earned $1.6m for doing so.
While Serena, who had won the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon in 2015, was still licking her wounds after her shock defeat in the U.S. Open semifinal at Flushing Meadows, Scotsman Scott Brash, 29, was preparing to create equestrian history at Spruce Meadows, Calgary in Canada.
Having already won the Rolex Grand Prix at Geneva’s CHI indoor show in in December 2014, Brash claimed the Rolex Grand Prix at CHIO Aachen in May, the Scot remained calm under pressure to jump two clear rounds on his horse Hello Sanctos and hit the jackpot in Calgary.
“Winning one of the equestrian majors was an incredible achievement, to win two was a dream come true, but to go on and complete the Rolex Grand Slam of Show Jumping is beyond belief,” said Brash in a statement.
Rodrigo Pessoa and Eric Lamaze have won all three showjumping majors, but Brash is the first rider to do it consecutively. In doing so he pocketed a $1.1m bonus plus $500,000 for winning the competition in Canada.
“In winning this unparalleled challenge, Scott Brash has proven that he is the one of the finest riders of his generation. His achievement will go down as one of the most remarkable in the history of the sport, and will be talked about for years to come,” said Rolex’s communications and image director Arnaud Boetsch.
The world No.1 now adds this grand slam to his roll of honor, which includes Olympic team gold, European team gold and individual bronze, two Global Champions Tour series titles.
British eventer Pippa Funnel is the only other rider to achieve Equestrian’s grand slam 12 years ago. She claimed consecutive titles at Kentucky, Badminton and Burghley.
The Spruce Meadows “Masters,” which was celebrating its 40th anniversary, enjoyed record crowds throughout the week with over 85,000 people attending Saturday.