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Plenty of Europe’s royals have attempted to scale the heights at the Olympic Games
But it doesn’t mean you’re going to end up on the podium either.
There have been just a handful of royal medallists in the
history of the Games, but that hasn’t stopped the regal athletes
making the biggest headlines.
The gold medal for highest profile with no royal wins has to go to
Britain where no one with an HRH in front of their names has won a
medal. Instead, our Olympic success has come from untitled
members of the Family. One of the first successes for Team GB
in London 2012 was down to The Queen’s granddaughter, Zara
Phillips, who grabbed a silver in the team eventing. The
medal was presented by her mother, The Princess Royal, who had
competed in the same discipline herself in the 1976 Olympics in
Montreal, but had missed the major placings. But Zara’s
father, Mark Phillips, is a double Olympic medallist in
equestrianism having won a silver in Seoul in 1988 and a gold in
1972 when the Games were held in Munich.
Zara Phillips rides High Kingdom in the London 2012 Olympics where she won a silver medal
The gold for most successful royal family at the Games is a tie
between Norway and Greece. In 1928, the then Crown Prince of
Norway, Olav, won gold in sailing when the Games were held in
Amsterdam. Olav was a keen sportsman but, although he was
well known for his love of ski-ing, he never entered the Winter
Olympics in that discipline. In the 1960s, he found another
Olympic sailing champion among the crowned heads of Europe.
Constantine of Greece had triumphed in the dragon class
sailing in 1960 while still a prince. He never got a chance
to defend his title as he ascended his country’s throne in March
1964 just months before the Tokyo Games of that year.
Spain’s royals win the gold when it comes to Olympic achievements
out of competition. When the Games came to Barcelona in 1992,
it was a moment for national celebration and, as the heir to the
throne, Prince Felipe, carried his country’s flag into the stadium
at the opening ceremonies, much of the joy was reflected on to the
Monarchy. While Felipe came sixth in his sailing event, away
from the field of competition, the royal victory was complete.
Felipe had done much better than either his father (Juan
Carlos competed in the dragon class sailing in 1972), his mother
(Sofia was in the same Greek team that saw Constantine sail to
victory, but she came nowhere near his success) and his sister (the
Infanta Cristina sailed for Spain in Seoul 1988), but his medal
miss was yet another for his family.
Olympic gold has been hard to come by for Europe’s royal families
In fact, the only Olympic medal for the Spanish Royals so far
belongs to a man they don’t really mention at the moment.
Cristina returned to the Olympics in 1996 to support her
country’s athletes and met one of its bronze medal winners,
handball player Inaki Urdangarin. By the time he competed in
Sydney in 2000, he was her husband and his bronze in those Games is
the only Spanish royal success so far. Inaki Urdangarin is
now under investigation for financial irregularities – he denies
all wrongdoing.
But if the Olympic ideal includes
the idea that taking part is just as important as winning, then,
among royal participants, there are two clear leaders for the gold
medal. King Harald of Norway took part in three games. As
Crown Prince of Norway, he carried his country’s flag at the Tokyo
Olympics of 1964 where he competed in the sailing. He was
back again in 1968 but, again, there was no medal to match dad’s to
take home from Mexico. He gave it one more try in 1972 in
Munich before retiring from Olympic competition. And for decades,
his Olympic record as the most persistent royal in the face of
defeat stood unchallenged.
Then, Prince Albert of Monaco discovered bobsledding. As if
the idea of the heir to the throne of one of the sunniest countries
in the world taking part in the Winter Olympics wasn’t strange
enough first time round in 1988, Prince Albert came back to the
Games as a competitor in 1992, 1994, 1998 and 2002. He never
won a medal. But he did win huge praise for his commitment to
his sport, and for his insistence on staying in the Olympic village
with the other athletes and shunning all special treatment.
His wife, Charlene, is also an Olympian having been a member
of the South African swimming squad in 2000 – she finished fifth in
her event.
Albert and Harald have also been among the most visible supporters
of their country’s teams at the 2014 Winter Olympics, and that’s
among a strong field of very high profile royal cheerleaders
throughout the Games. But Harald might yet have an Olympic
advantage when it comes to supporting the Games. In two years
time, the second Youth Winter Olympiad takes place, and the host
city is Lillehammer which held the 1994 Winter Games.
Meanwhile, the whole Norwegian Royal Family will be involved
in the campaign to bring the 2022 Winter Games to Oslo.
Hosting a third Olympic event would surely make Harald the
ultimate royal gold medallist.
Photo credits: Captain Roger Fenton,
Ross Merritt Photography ,
Cliff via Photopin
cc
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