Written by Chris Bumbaca and USA TODAY
Paris, France – Equestrian is a sport of two hearts: the rider and the horse.
Although Annie Goodwin’s heart stopped beating three years ago, Bruno, her beloved horse, will realize her dream by competing at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
“It’s a tragic story,” said Boyd Martin, a Team USA eventing rider who will be on top of Bruno at the Games. “Maybe with a little bit of a happy-ish ending.”
Goodwin died during a training accident while riding Bruno at her farm in South Carolina in 2021. Martin, her friend and former coach, took Bruno into his ownership. Together, they have reached the sport’s biggest stage and made Goodwin’s highest wishes a reality.
“I hope Boyd does realize that he’s already won, you know what I mean?” said Tara Stoker Bostwick, chief operating officer at the Aiken Horse Park Foundation, where Goodwin trained. “He’s already got Annie’s horse to the Olympics.”
‘She was such an amazing rider’
The smile is what they remember. Even on the bad days, it was there. Martin recalled Goodwin’s “absolute dedication and obsessiveness” of becoming a better rider.
“This sport is lots of early mornings and cold days and rainy days, and there’s hours and hours and hours of practice when no one’s cheering and no one’s watching,” Martin told USA TODAY Sports. “And I’d say the thing that I admired most about her is how resilient she was and how much she loved her horses.”
Goodwin died on July 14, 2021 following a schooling accident while trying to jump over a training-level obstacle. She succumbed to her injuries shortly after the accident at Aiken Regional Medical Centers. Bruno was not injured.
Martin, a four-time Olymipan, was about to depart for the Tokyo Games when he heard the news. He carried the combination of shock and devastation through that competition.

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