{{Short description|American equestrian (1932–2016)}} {{use mdy dates|date=June 2016}} {{Infobox sportsperson | name = Frank Chapot | image = | caption = | fullname = Francis Davis Chapot | birth_date = {{birth date|1932|2|24}} | birth_place = Camden, New Jersey, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|2016|6|20|1932|2|24}} | death_place = Neshanic Station, New Jersey, U.S. | headercolor = lightsteelblue | show-medals = yes | medaltemplates = {{MedalSport | Equestrian }} {{MedalCountry | the {{USA}} }} {{MedalOlympics}} {{MedalSilver | 1960 Rome | Team jumping }} {{MedalSilver | 1972 Munich | Team jumping }} {{MedalCompetition | Pan American Games }} {{MedalGold | 1959 Chicago | Team jumping }} {{MedalGold | 1963 São Paulo | Team jumping }} {{MedalSilver | 1959 Chicago | Individual jumping }} {{MedalSilver | 1967 Winnipeg | Team jumping }} }}
'''Francis Davis Chapot''' (February 24, 1932 – June 20, 2016) was an American equestrian who competed at six consecutive Olympic Games - from 1956 to 1976 - and won two silver medals in team show jumping, at Rome 1960 and Munich 1972.<ref>{{cite Sports-Reference|url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ch/frank-chapot-1.html |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110828053316/http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ch/frank-chapot-1.html |archivedate=August 28, 2011 }}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.uset.org/memoriam-six-time-olympian-u-s-team-jumping-coach-frank-chapot/|title=In Memoriam: Six-time Olympian and U.S. Team Jumping coach, Frank Chapot|date=2016-06-22|website=USET Foundation|language=en-US|access-date=2020-02-02}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.chronofhorse.com/article/legendary-frank-chapot-dies|title=Legendary Horseman Frank Chapot Dies|last=Print|website=www.chronofhorse.com|language=en|access-date=2020-02-02}}</ref> Chapot was chef d'equipe of the American equestrian team from 1980 to 2004, leading them to their first Olympic team gold at Los Angeles 1984.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> Additionally, he coached the American show jumping team from 1968 until his retirement in 2005.<ref name=":1" /> Chapot is also known for breeding and training Gem Twist, a champion showjumper named World's Best Horse in 1990.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> In later life, Chapot became a jump course designer and judge.<ref name=":0" /> In 2001, he was awarded the United States Equestrian Federation's Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to horse sport.<ref name=":0" />
== Early life and education == Chapot was born in Camden, New Jersey to Frank Joseph Chapot, a salesman, and his wife Dorothy Davis Chapot. Chapot was raised in Walpack Township, New Jersey, on his family's farm. He graduated from nearby Pingry School in 1950.<ref>Longland, Julia. [https://books.google.com/books?id=rPZT7KXY29wC&q=%22frank+chapot%22+camden ''Clear round!: Interviews''], p. 162. Mayflower Books, 1978. {{ISBN|9780831700126}}. Accessed December 24, 2019. "Frank Chapot was born on 24th February 1932 at Camden, New Jersey. The son of a salesman who rode for pleasure in his spare time and competed occasionally, Frank attended nearby Pingry School and graduated from Pennsylvania State University before military service in the USAF."</ref> He earned a bachelor's degree at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1955.<ref>Fox, Margalit. [https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/26/sports/olympics/frank-chapot-olympic-show-jumper-and-mainstay-of-the-sport-dies-at-84.html "Frank Chapot, Olympic Show Jumper and Mainstay of the Sport, Dies at 84"], ''The New York Times'', June 25, 2016. Accessed June 26, 2016. "The son of Frank Joseph Chapot and the former Dorothy Davis, Frank Davis Chapot was born on Feb. 24, 1932, in Camden, N.J. He was reared on his parents’ horse farm in Walpack, N.J."</ref>
== Career == Chapot spent two years serving in the United States air force.<ref name="Death" /> In 1956, while still on active duty in the air force, Chapot joined the American equestrian team.<ref name=":1" />
He often attributed his success to being chosen as a member of the Olympic team and having a good relationship with Bertalan de Némethy, the aristocratic Hungarian who coached the U.S. show jumpers more than two decades and whose role Chapot assumed during the early 1980s. He also was invited to judge at many shows in the circuit.
He married fellow Olympic equestrian Mary Mairs in 1965. They were on the same Olympic show jumping team in 1964 and 1968, narrowly missing out on bronze in 1968 by 0.25 points.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1968/EQU/mixed-jumping-team.html |title=Equestrianism at the 1968 Ciudad de México Summer Games: Mixed Jumping, Team | Olympics at |publisher=Sports-reference.com |date=1968-10-27 |accessdate=2016-06-22 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304091545/http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1968/EQU/mixed-jumping-team.html |archivedate=March 4, 2016 |df=mdy }}</ref> They retired to raise horses at Chado Farm,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.chadofarm.net/ |title=Welcome to Chado Farm! |accessdate=2010-02-26 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100308131624/http://www.chadofarm.net/ |archivedate=March 8, 2010 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> including the champion show jumper, Gem Twist, who won two Olympic silver medals and was named World's Best Horse at the 1990 World Equestrian Games in Stockholm.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.showjumpinghalloffame.net/news/sjhf31.shtml |title=Show Jumping Hall of Fame |accessdate=February 26, 2010 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717070451/http://www.showjumpinghalloffame.net/news/sjhf31.shtml |archivedate=July 17, 2011 }}</ref> Gem Twist had an incredible career at the Grand Prix level. The gelding is the only horse to have won the "American Grand Prix Association Horse of the Year" title three times,<ref name="Chado">[http://www.chadofarm.net/Gemtwist/NewMainPage.asp "The Legend of Gem Twist"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070121170909/http://www.chadofarm.net/Gemtwist/NewMainPage.asp |date=January 21, 2007 }}. ''Chado Farms''. Referenced January 2, 2008.</ref> and is regarded as having been one of the best show-jumpers in the history of the discipline.<ref>[http://www.horsechannel.com/horse-news/Gem-Twist.aspx "Glorious Gem Twist Euthanized"]. Hale, Cindy. ''Horse Channel''. 12/4/06. Referenced January 2, 2008.</ref> The Chapots had the horse cloned and began a breeding line from the clone.<ref>''[http://www.horsetalk.co.nz/news/2008/09/105.shtml#axzz4G2nfuyfG ''Clone of top jumper Gem Twist born'']'', horsetalk.co.nz, September 17, 2008</ref>
== Awards and recognition == Chapot was inducted into the United States Show Jumping Hall of Fame in 1994,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.showjumpinghalloffame.net/inductees/f_chapot.shtml|title=The Show Jumping Hall of Fame|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100308101218/http://www.showjumpinghalloffame.net/inductees/f_chapot.shtml|archivedate=March 8, 2010|url-status=dead|accessdate=February 26, 2010}}</ref> two years after his wife Mary.
== Personal life == Chapot married Mary Mairs in 1965, and they had two daughters, Laura and Wendy. Laura Chapot became a grand prix rider, while Wendy rides as an amateur jumper.<ref name=":1" /> A resident of the Neshanic Station section of Branchburg, New Jersey, Chapot died in Bound Brook, New Jersey, on June 20, 2016, at the age of 84 after declining health. He was survived by his wife Mary and their two daughters.<ref name="Death">{{cite web|title=6-time Olympic rider Frank Chapot of N.J. dead at 84|url=http://www.nj.com/hunterdon/index.ssf/2016/06/6-time_olympic_rider_frank_chapot_of_nj_dead_at_84.html#incart_river_home|date=20 June 2016|accessdate=20 June 2016|last=Jaffer|first=Nancy|publisher=nj.com|work=Hunterdon County Publisher}}</ref>
==See also== * List of athletes with the most appearances at Olympic Games
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * [http://www.branchburgfuneralhome.com/obituary/Frank-D.-Chapot/Neshanic-Station-NJ/1631963 Obituary] * {{Sports links}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chapot, Frank}} Category:1932 births Category:2016 deaths Category:Sportspeople from Camden, New Jersey Category:People from Branchburg, New Jersey Category:Sportspeople from Sussex County, New Jersey Category:American male equestrians Category:Olympic silver medalists for the United States in equestrian Category:Equestrians at the 1956 Summer Olympics Category:Equestrians at the 1960 Summer Olympics Category:Equestrians at the 1964 Summer Olympics Category:Equestrians at the 1968 Summer Olympics Category:Equestrians at the 1972 Summer Olympics Category:Equestrians at the 1976 Summer Olympics Category:Pingry School alumni Category:Wharton School alumni Category:Medalists at the 1972 Summer Olympics Category:Medalists at the 1960 Summer Olympics Category:United States Air Force airmen Category:Equestrians at the 1959 Pan American Games Category:Equestrians at the 1963 Pan American Games Category:Equestrians at the 1967 Pan American Games Category:Medalists at the 1959 Pan American Games Category:Medalists at the 1963 Pan American Games Category:Medalists at the 1967 Pan American Games Category:Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in equestrian Category:Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States in equestrian Category:20th-century American sportsmen