USET Appoints Frank Chapot As 2002 Show Jumping Coach/Chef d’Equipe

Gladstone, New Jersey—January 15, 2002—The United States Equestrian Team
(USET) has announced the appointment of legendary Show Jumping rider and
coach Frank Chapot of Neshanic Station, NJ as the 2002 Show Jumping
Coach/Chef d’Equipe. He will serve as Chef d’Equipe for the World
Equestrian Games, CSIO Spruce Meadows, and any other CSI/CSIO competitions
deemed important for his participation.
This is the first time since 1980, when Bert deNemethy filled this position,
that the USET has appointed a Coach/Chef d’Equipe for Show Jumping. In his
role as coach, Chapot will have the responsibility for all competition, and
also for preparation of US riders and horses for international competition.
Chapot has been a key figure for the USET for five decades. He first joined
the Team as the youngest member of the USET’s 1956 Olympic Show Jumping
squad while still on active duty with the U.S. Air Force.
A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, Chapot had
already made his mark as a junior rider—he won the coveted Maclay
Championship in 1948—and then as a hunter hunter/jumper exhibitor.
During the next twenty years, Chapot compiled an enviable record with the
USET, including five more Olympic appearances, participation on a record 46
winning Nations’ Cup teams, two Olympic Silver Medals, an individual Bronze
in the 1974 World Championships, and victories in such prestigious events as
the President’s Cup, the Grand Prix of New York and London’s King George V
Gold Cup, among innumerable other wins.
After his career as a USET rider, Chapot became its Show Jumping
Chef d’Equipe, in which role he helped the Team attain two highly elusive
goals: its first-ever team Gold Medals in the Olympic Games (1984) and World
Championships (1986). In the 1988 Olympic Games, his Silver Medal Team was
anchored by Greg Best, who was also a pupil and the individual Silver
Medalist, riding Gem Twist, a horse of Chapot’s own breeding. Chapot added
another Olympic medal in 1996 when as chef d’equipe he guided the USET to
the team Silver at the Centennial Olympic Games in Atlanta.
Following his 1996 Olympic success, Chapot guided the USET to
another milestone in 1997 as the U.S. won the FEI Nations’ Cup World Series
Championship. It marked the first time the US had won the title since 1968,
when Chapot was a key contributor as a rider. Chapot was inducted into the
Show Jumping Hall of Fame in 1994.
This year, USA Equestrian honored Chapot as the recipient of its Lifetime
Achievement Award with the Jimmy A. Williams Trophy.

The United States Equestrian Team is a non-profit organization that selects, trains, equips and finances equestrians of the highest possible standard to represent our country in major international competition, including the Olympic Games and the World Championships. To accomplish this, the USET seeks out and nurtures the development of talented athletes - riders, drivers and horses - and provides the support and guidance they need to help them attain their fullest potential. For more information on the USET, please call (908) 234-1251, or visit USET ONLINE at www.uset.org