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Big Star: The Nick Skelton Story Review – Story Of Showjumping’s Comeback King Spares The Horses

Documentary charting the British Olympian’s career including his return from breaking his neck is for equestrian fans only due to tight-lipped interviews

It’s one hell of a comeback. In 2000, champion showjumper Nick Skelton broke his neck in a bad fall; two years later, he was back on a horse and out of retirement. He went on to win Olympic gold twice, first in London in 2012, then aged 58 at Rio in 2016 (with a replacement hip), becoming the oldest British winner of an individual Olympic gold medal in more than 100 years. Skelton (and his horse Big Star) finally retired in 2017; his story is told in this solid but largely unrevealing documentary, flawed by tight-lipped interviews, no one rocking the boat.

Skelton was born in Warwickshire, the son of a chemist. He rode his first pony aged 18 months (“we did everything together”) and after parting ways with school at 15, he went to work for tough guy horse owner and trainer Ted Edgar (“a bastard” according to one friend). Talented and ambitious, Skelton was a superstar showjumper, but back at the stables, boss Edgar still made him clean the lorries. In the end, Skelton decided to go it alone with his wife, Sarah; they mortgaged their house and bought a horse.

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Big Star: The Nick Skelton Story Review – Story Of Showjumping’s Comeback King Spares The Horses

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