William Speed Lane Fox-Pitt (born 2 January 1969) is an English equestrian who competes in eventing. His career highlights include winning three Olympic medals in the team event, with silver in 2004 and 2012, and bronze in 2008. At the World Equestrian Games, he won team gold and individual silver in 2010, and team silver and individual bronze in 2014. He also won World team medals in 2002 and 2006. At the European Championships, he has won six team gold medals, as well as Individual silver in 1997 and 2005, and Individual bronze in 2013. He is the recordman CCI*****'s winner with 14 grand slam titles. In 2011, he became the first rider to win five different five-star events, having won the Burghley Horse Trials a record six times (1994, 2002, 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2011), Rolex Kentucky three times (2010, 2012, 2014), Stars of Pau twice (2011, 2013), the Badminton Horse Trials twice (2004, 2015), and the Luhmühlen Horse Trials once (2008). A serious fall in 2015 left him in a coma for two weeks, but he came back to make the British eventing team and attend the 2016 Summer Olympics. He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2018 Birthday Honours.

Family background and education

Fox-Pitt was born in Hampstead, the eldest son of William Oliver Lane Fox-Pitt (1932-2012, known as Oliver) and Marietta Speed. His father competed in many sports, and in addition had a career in the city, founding an investment bank now known as Fox-Pitt Kelton Cochran Caronia Waller. Oliver and Marietta were both equestrian competitors, riding at Badminton and Burghley, and his siblings have been very successful as well. His paternal grandfather was Major-General "Billy" Fox-Pitt a Dorset landowner who served in both World Wars and was a founding officer of the Welsh Guards. Fox-Pitt was educated at Wellesley House School in Kent, Eton College and the Goldsmiths, University of London. Fox-Pitt began riding at age four. At 13, he stopped riding because he feared he would be bullied by his peers. He is married to former eventer and current ITV Racing presenter Alice Plunkett. They have four children.

Sporting career

He is the recordman of CCI*****'s winner with 14 titles. He is also the only rider to have won 5 out of the six CCI*****'s having won Burghley (1994, 2002, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2011), Badminton (2004 & 2015), Pau (2011, 2013), Kentucky (2010, 2012, 2014) and Luhmuhlen (2008). He holds the record for the most wins (six) at the Burghley Horse Trials; William's victories coming in 1994, 2002, 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2011. Additional major wins have been at the Badminton Horse Trials in 2004 and again in 2015, at Gatcombe Park in 1995, 2000, 2003 and 2005. Team golds in European Championships in 1995, 1997, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2009. He took individual silver at the 1997 Europeans, team bronze at the 2002 and 2011 Europeans, individual silver at the 2005 Europeans, team silver at the 2006 Aachen World Equestrian Games, team silver at the 2021 Nations Cup in Boekelo, team gold at the 2010 World Equestrian Games, individual bronze at the 2013 Europeans, team silver and individual bronze at the 2014 World Equestrian Games, and team silver at the 2015 Europeans. He also represented Great Britain at the (1996 Summer Olympics/Atlanta), (2004 Summer Olympics/Athens), (2008 Summer Olympics/Beijing), (2012 Summer Olympics/London) and (2016 Summer Olympics/Rio), winning team silver in Athens, team bronze in Beijing and team silver in London. In 2006 he was ranked the leading rider in Britain for the sixth year running and 2nd in the world, and as of 2014 he was ranked 1st in the world. William is married to Channel 4 Racing presenter Alice Plunkett. They have two sons; Oliver (born in August 2005) and Thomas (born 15 November 2006), and two daughters; Chloe (born October 2012) and Emily (born September 2014). William is a regular columnist in the weekly equestrian magazine, Horse & Hound. In the eventing world, one of his best known partnerships is with the horse Tamarillo. In October 2015, a fall at a competition in France left him in a coma for two weeks. After regaining consciousness, he had initial trouble with blindness and then double vision, but was ultimately able to earn a spot on the British team for the 2016 Olympics and returned to international competition with the stallion Chilli Morning. He was the only remaining member of the 2012 team who won silver in London 2012. On 12th May 2024, 35 years after he first competed at Badminton Horse Trials, William announced that this years Badminton would be his last.

Career highlights

2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1990 1989 1988 1987 1985

Partial CCI5* results

International Championship results

Gallery