Why We Won in ’68

Well ahead of the Olympics in Mexico, Gordon Atkinson began to suspect that Canada would come away with the gold. At the time, all the riders – Jim Day, Jim Elder and Tom Gayford – were doing extremely well in competition, but what was so magical about them was how they operated together. “As a team, these riders just had such a cohesiveness, such an understanding, of what was required to make a team work,” said Atkinson. “They weren’t just a group of four individuals. I saw the team grow closer together in the months that led up to the Olympics. I saw there was a mutual admiration society going on among the four of them, and among the horses’ owners, and among all their support group, the grooms and the rest of the stable staff. I could just see the entire thing coming together, and each competition just reinforced…