AFTER 43 years competing at the highest level of show jumping, Nick Skelton this week announced his retirement from the sport. His two-time Olympic gold medal-winning partner Big Star will also be retired.

The 59-year-old British man has won almost £7 million in prize money over the last four decades, been to seven Olympic Games and has over 20 championship medals to his honour.

With the 14-year-old Dutch Warmblood stallion Big Star, Skelton won an Olympic team gold medal at the London 2012 Games and achieved his ultimate goal when winning individual gold at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.

Although Skelton said he and Big Star would carry on competing, the announcement was made on Wednesday morning that the pair would officially retire at the Royal Windsor Horse Show on Sunday, May 14th.

In a statement release by British Showjumping, Skelton said: “It has come to a point, after months of thought and consideration, that myself and my partner Big Star have decided to retire from competition. We feel that Big Star has done everything that a rider could ask and it is time for him to relax and enjoy his stallion duties.

“I have always stated that when Big Star finished I would too. This sport has given me more than I could ever have hoped over the past 43 years and it is such a difficult decision to make, but I’m not getting any younger and it is nice for the two of us to end on the highest note possible.”

Their final competitive appearance was at the Royal Horse Show in Toronto, Canada, last November. With the stallion, who is owned by Gary and Beverly Widdowson, Skelton won the famous Aachen Grand Prix, as well as Grands Prix in Rome and Hamburg.

He also partnered other great horses in Arko III and Dollar Girl, and the former world number one has over 60 major Grand Prix wins to his name, a World Cup final, three Hickstead Derby wins.

Skelton retired for the first time in 2000 after a fall left him with serious injuries, including a broken neck, and was credited with one of the greatest comebacks of all time. The British public showed their support and respect for Skelton’s achievement by voting for him to take third place in the 2016 BBC Sports Personality of the Year.