Saint Cyr, Henri

Henri Saint Cyr, (born March 15, 1902, Stockholm, Sweden—died July 27, 1979), Swedish equestrian in dressage who was one of only two people to win two Olympic gold medals in both the individual and team competitions (1952 and 1956). He is recognized as one of Sweden’s greatest riding champions.

St. Cyr began his Swedish military career in 1924, rising through the officer ranks and eventually reaching the rank of major. He entered the reserves in 1957. Early in his competitive riding career he entered jumping events, but an injury caused him to turn his efforts to dressage. He captured a gold medal as part of the Swedish dressage team at the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki, Fin. In the individual dressage, St. Cyr faced stiff competition from Lis Hartel of Denmark. Hartel, who had been stricken with polio in 1944, competed despite being paralyzed below the knees; St. Cyr defeated Hartel by just 20 points in an exciting and strenuous contest. He later helped her onto the victory platform in one of the Olympics’ most moving and gracious moments. He won the 1953 world championship in Wiesbaden, W.Ger. In Stockholm at the 1956 Olympic competition, his nearly flawless ride, in slippery, rainy conditions, allowed the Swedish team to win a rare second consecutive gold medal in dressage. He also repeated his gold medal performance in the individual dressage, again narrowly defeating Hartel.