William started eventing at the age of 15, he was encouraged by his parents, both of whom completed Badminton and Burghley. He won individual Silver at the Junior Europeans in 1987, Young Rider Team Gold medals in successive European Championships in 1988 and 1989 and completed Badminton at the age of 20. His first Burghley win five years later established him as a regular on the senior British Team and guaranteed him a place at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996.

William was the first British rider to become eventing’s World No 1, a distinction he achieved in 2002 and again in 2009 & 2010.  He has represented his country consistently over the past 15 years, winning team Silver at the 2012 London Olympics, team Silver at the 2004 Athens Olympics, team Bronze at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, team Gold and individual Silver at the 2010 World Equestrian Games in Kentucky, team Silver at the 2006 World Equestrian Games in Aachen and team Bronze at the 2002 World Equestrian Games in Jerez.  He has won seven team Gold medals at the European Championships and has been the British No 1 eleven times.

He is the only rider to have won five out of the six CCI****’s worldwide having won Burghley (1994, 2002, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2011), Badminton (2004), Luhmühlen (2008), Rolex Kentucky (2010, 2012) and Pau (2011, 2013).  He has won the HSBC FEI Classics, a series linking the top six Three-Day Events in the world,  three times (2008, 2010 & 2012) and finished second in 2011.  William’s most recent successes were winning individual Bronze at the European Championships in Malmo in August 2013, followed by 1st and 3rd at Pau in October.

In 2011 William became the first rider to win a record six Burghley titles (on six different horses) and became one of the first riders to ever win a CCI*, CCI** and CCI*** at the same event on the same day – a feat acheived at Tattersalls, Ireland.

The 47-year-old William has made a remarkable comeback  after suffering a serious head injury in a fall last October. He and Chilli Morning have been Britain’s most successful championship combination of recent years, taking individual bronze at both the 2013 Europeans and the 2014 World Equestrian Games. William is the winner of a grand total of 20 championship medals. William’s ride at Rio, Chilli Morning was bred in Germany, and is by the Thoroughbrd, Phantomic out of a mare by Kolibri, one of the foundation sires of the stud at Neustadt-Dosse.
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