Malin Baryard-Johnsson
Malin is an extremely talented rider who is improving all the time. She first emerged onto the scene in 1996, at the age of just 21, when she finished seventh in the World Cup Final. It comes as no surprise to learn that she already had golds under her belt from both the European Pony Championships and the European Championship for Young Riders.
As well as enjoying celebrity status in the Swedish show jumping world, Malin is one of the most popular riders on the international equestrian circuit. In 2003 Malin and her top horse Butterfly Flip were named the world’s best horse and rider combination. It is perhaps this accolade that Malin values most, along with the Olympic silver medal she won with the Swedish show jumping team in Athens in 2004. Another of Malin’s career goals was to be ranked among the top ten riders in the world, something that she achieved in 2003.
In addition to the Olympic silver in 2004, her other major achievements include a team silver medal at the 2001 European Championships and 2002 World Championships, bronze in the World Cup Final in 2003 and sixth place in the 2003 European Championships. Two of Malin’s most satisfying triumphs to date have been her victories in the European final of the World Cup in Gothenburg in 2004 and at the German Masters in Stuttgart in 2006.
Malin entered into partnership with H&M in 1996. In 2003, a fellow member of the Swedish national team and Olympic medallist, Peder Fredricson, joined her at Team H&M.
Malin and Peder are painstaking and single-minded in their pursuit of excellence. As such they are two superb role models for their fans all over the world in the only Olympic sport in which men and women compete on equal terms.