Wendy Schaeffer

{{Short description|Australian equestrian (born 1974)}} {{Primary sources|date=June 2024}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2018}} {{Use Australian English|date=April 2018}}

{{Infobox sportsperson |name = Wendy Schaeffer |nationality = |country = Australia | honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=AUS|OAM}} |team = |sport = [[Equestrianism|Equestrian]] |event = |birth_date = {{birth date and age|1974|9|16|df=y}} |birth_place = [[Adelaide, South Australia]] |hometown = |show-medals = yes |medaltemplates = {{MedalSport|[[Equestrianism|Equestrian]]}} {{MedalCountry| {{AUS}} }} {{MedalOlympics}} {{MedalGold|[[1996 Summer Olympics|1996 Atlanta]]|[[Equestrian at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Team eventing|Team eventing]]}} }} '''Wendy Lynn Schaeffer''' (born 16 September 1974) is an Australian [[equestrianism|equestrian]] and Olympic champion. She is a recipient of the [[Medal of the Order of Australia]], and inductee of the [[Sport Australia Hall of Fame]].

==Career== Schaeffer was born in [[Adelaide, South Australia]] on 16 September 1974.<ref name=awr/><ref name=sports-ref/>

Riding the horse Sunburst,<ref>{{cite web |title=Sunburst |url=https://www.olympedia.org/horses/2387 |website=[[Olympedia]] |access-date=13 June 2024}}</ref> she won a team gold medal in [[eventing]] for Australia at the [[1996 Summer Olympics]] in [[Atlanta]],<ref name=awr/><ref name=sports-ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/sc/wendy-schaeffer-1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200418054941/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/sc/wendy-schaeffer-1.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=18 April 2020 |title=Wendy Schaeffer |publisher=Sports Reference LLC |work=SR/Olympic Sports |access-date=27 December 2008}}</ref> along with team members [[Phillip Dutton]], [[Andrew Hoy]] and [[Gillian Rolton]].<ref name=1996-team>{{cite web |title=Team, Open |url=https://www.olympedia.org/results/185436 |website=[[Olympedia]] |access-date=13 June 2024}}</ref> Schaeffer had the best performance (lowest penalty) among all competitors in the team eventing, with no penalties in the show jumping round.<ref name=1996-team/><ref name=sahof/>

Schaeffer was awarded the [[Medal of the Order of Australia]] in 1997, and was inducted into the [[Sport Australia Hall of Fame]] in 2002.<ref name=sahof>{{cite web|url=https://sahof.org.au/hall-of-fame-member/wendy-schaeffer/|title=Wendy Schaeffer|publisher=Sport Australia Hall of Fame|access-date=25 September 2020}}</ref>

The book ''An Eventful Life – Life Stories of Eventing Champions'' from 2010, written by Alison Duthie, treats the biography of Wendy Schaeffer and four other Australian Olympic equestrians, [[Megan Jones (equestrian)|Megan Jones]], [[Sonja Johnson]], [[Shane Rose]], and [[Stuart Tinney]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=An Eventful Life - The book |url=https://www.an-eventful-life.com.au/eventful-life-book |website= |access-date=13 June 2024}}</ref>

==References== <references> <ref name=awr>{{Cite web |title=Schaeffer, Wendy (1974-) |first=Nikki |last=Henningham |url=https://www.womenaustralia.info/entries/schaeffer-wendy/ |work=The Australian Women's Register |access-date=13 June 2024}}</ref> </references>

==Further reading== *{{cite book |title=An Eventful Life – Life Stories of Eventing Champions |first=Alison |last=Duthie |publisher= Palmer Higgs Publishing |year=2010 }}

==External links== *{{sports links}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schaeffer, Wendy}} [[Category:1974 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Australian female equestrians]] [[Category:Olympic equestrians for Australia]] [[Category:Equestrians at the 1996 Summer Olympics]] [[Category:Olympic gold medalists for Australia]] [[Category:Australian event riders]] [[Category:Sportspeople from Adelaide]] [[Category:Olympic medalists in equestrian]] [[Category:Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia]] [[Category:Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees]] [[Category:Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics]] [[Category:Sportswomen from South Australia]]