Mary King, another example of quiet achievement.
More on people who add up to something …
Through my young son’s school, we meet some of the other parents, as you might expect. As with any individuals, we are frequently learning of interesting aspects to their life stories. No doubt, there are many more private achievement and challenges which they have overcome; but then there are the public achievements.
One of the parents, whom I hardly know, is an Olympian. To be selected to compete for your country at the Olympic Games is a huge achievement, which puts anyone in sport into a relatively small group; to achieve that more than once would put her into a much smaller elite group; but … to have competed in the Olympic Games FIVE TIMES and to be training for the SIXTH puts her into an extremely small group indeed! Is this a record?
Mary King went to a local school, in Devon; her equestrian competition began at her local pony club. Then she simply kept on going! She has broken her neck, she has had several horses badly injured and, therefore, destroyed during an 
event, but this has not deterred her. She has competed for Great Britain in every summer Olympic games for the last 17 years: 1992 (Barcelona); 1996 (Atlanta), 2000 (Sydney), 2004 (Athens, team eventing, Silver medal), 2008 (Beijing, team eventing, Bronze medal) and is training for selection for 2012 (London). This is a quite extraordinary achievement, by any measure!
And, on the subject of the 2012 Olympics in London, how about the quiet understatement:
A gold medal would round off my career nicely.
in this interview:
Oh, and she lives in Devon in the south west of England.
By John Lewis
Learning from Dogs 