Andrew Hoy is set to become the first Australian to compete at seven Summer Olympics after being named in the equestrian eventing team for the London Games on Tuesday.
The 53-year-old made his Olympic debut in Los Angeles in 1984 and also competed at Seoul, Barcelona, Atlanta, Sydney and Athens before missing out on Beijing four years ago.
Now in his 34th year on the Australia team, Hoy won team gold at three Games and silver in the individual event on home soil in Sydney in 2000.
"When I made my sixth Olympics I thought there might be a possibility of getting the record," he said in an Australian team release.
"But when it comes to representing your country, that's not the record you're aiming for, it's just a nice little extra. The goal is to be successful and produce a world class performance."
Despite his longevity, Hoy is unlikely to be the most experienced competitor at the Greenwich Park equestrian venue for the July 27-August 12 Games.
That honour looks set to go to 65-year-old Canadian Ian Millar, whose Olympic career began at the 1972 Munich Olympics and who has been nominated to his country's team for his 10th Games.
That would give him the record as the most experienced Olympian, a mark he would already own outright had Canada not boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympics because of the Russian invasion of Afghanistan.
Photograph: Ian Kington/Reuters
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