Sport-heute: ReportMix - IN MEMORIAM: EUGENE “GENE" MISCHE (USA)

06. Dezember 2010, 23:08

IN MEMORIAM: EUGENE “GENE" MISCHE (USA)

Legendary horseman Eugene "Gene" Mische, the founder of Stadium Jumping Inc., passed away on 3 December 2010 at the age of 79, following a long, hard fought battle with cancer. Photo caption: Stadium Jumping CEO Eugene R. Mische (1931 – 2010). ©Kenneth Kraus/PhelpsSports.com.

Brüttisellen, 6.12.10 Red. (mk) Legendary horseman Eugene "Gene" Mische, the founder of Stadium Jumping Inc., passed away on 3 December 2010 at the age of 79, following a long, hard fought battle with cancer.

Born in Cleveland, Ohio (USA), in 1931, Mische, more than any horseman in history, changed the face of horse sports in the United States.

Over the course of a stellar career that spanned more than 60 years, Gene Mische managed the most prestigious shows in America, including the Budweiser American Invitational, American Grand Prix Association National Jumper Championship, New Albany Classic, Lake Placid and I Love New York Shows, Charlotte Jumper Classic, the American Gold Cup, USEF National Jumper Championships, and the National Horse Show. Other Stadium Jumping Inc. productions included the Olympic Games Jumping Team Selection Trials in 2000 and 2004, and the FEI World Equestrian Games™ Jumping Team Selection Trials in 2002 and 2006.

Mische's crowning achievement was the creation of the largest and longest consecutively running sporting event in the world, the Winter Equestrian Festival, still going strong in Wellington, Florida.

In 1980, Mische was part of the five-member organising committee that brought the first FEI World Cup™ Jumping to the U.S. In 1989, Mische and Stadium Jumping, Inc. produced the second Volvo World Cup ever held in the U.S., this time hosting it in Tampa; in 1992, they were the organisers of the Volvo World Cup Final in Del Mar. In 2002, Mische produced the first-ever outdoor Nations Cup, hosting it at the International Arena in Wellington, Florida.

Mische was inducted into the Show Jumping Hall of Fame in 2000 and was also awarded the Jimmy Williams Lifetime Achievement from the United States Equestrian Federation, an award he was most proud of, "because it was voted on by my peers", he said.

FEI President HRH Princess Haya said, “Gene Mische was a legend in our sport, and a pioneer in our community. His legacy will be one that has paved the reach of our sport into the heart of America, and the equestrian community owes him a debt of gratitude for all that he has given us. He was a great man, but he was also one of incredible humility, and dignity, he was our friend.”

Our sincerest condolences go to Gene Mische’s family, to the United States Equestrian Federation and to the equestrian community of the United States.

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