Zara Phillips to compete in London Olympics

GlobalPost

Zara Phillips, granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth, has been nominated to be a member of the UK equestrian team for the London Olympics, the British Equestrian Federation said Monday.

"It's awesome to be given this opportunity. I am really excited and can't wait to kick on and get him there. Hopefully, we will make it this time," Phillips said.

Phillips' chances of making the London Olympics looked bleak with the retirement of her horse Toytown last year, according to the Guardian. However, Phillips boosted her selection chances when she came in third at Bramham Horse Trials on High Kingdom, the horse she will now ride in the Olympics.

According to the Guardian, the other members of the British equestrian team are expected to be William Fox-Pitt, Mary King, Tina Cook and Piggy French, who won last year's test event in Greenwich.

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Competing in the Olympic Games is a family affair for the Phillips family. According to the Associates Press, Phillips's mother, Princess Anne, competed in the 1976 Olympic Games as a member of the British team in Montreal on the Queen's horse Goodwill. Phillips's father, Captain Mark Phillips, won a gold medal in 1972 and a silver in 1988.

Of the horse she will ride in the Games, Phillips told the AFP, "High Kingdom is a pretty cool, very relaxed kind of guy. I was really happy with him at Bramham as he had obviously grown up and is improving all the time," she said.

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