Zara Phillips, 30, has had a busy fortnight – she finished in first place at the Ballindenisk International Trials in County Cork on September 18, riding her young horse Lord Lauries, and also placed tenth on High Kingdom at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials, which puts her back in contention for a place in Britain’s equestrian team at next year’s Olympic Games.
Phillips has said competing at the Olympics would be the pinnacle of her sporting career – she unfortunately had to pull out of the last two Games when her horse sustained injuries.
‘It depends on who the selectors want to take and what type of horses they are looking for,’ says the Queen’s granddaughter. ‘You just have to sit tight and wait.’
Phillips won the World Eventing Championship in 2006. ‘It seems like a long time ago now,’ she says. ‘But it’s taken a few years to build up the same type of quality horses I had then.’
As a Samsung Olympic ambassador, Phillips is full of enthusiasm for the London 2012 Games. ‘It’ll be massive. Everyone in the country loves sport and to have the Games in our country will boost it even more. It will encourage even more people to do sport. It will hopefully benefit every sport in the country as well as improve facilities in London.’
Phillips is particularly looking forward to the Olympic Torch passing through the racing town of Cheltenham on its journey to London. ‘It’s great for the local community and everyone will be able to get involved in the Olympics in some way,’ she says.
As part of her promotional duties, Phillips is helping to drum up interest in the Torchbearer nomination process and encouraging people to nominate worthy candidates to participate in the relay.
She says: ‘They’re looking for unsung heroes who have gone the extra mile. I’ve seen a list of people who have been nominated – they’re all massively inspirational. It’ll be difficult to decide who does it. There are so many amazing people on the list.
‘The nominees should be people in the local community who have gone the extra mile and have done special things for their community and helping others. People who may not normally be part of the Olympics have the chance to participate by carrying the Olympic flame.’