Mary Hanna

Mary Hanna (née Sutherland) (born 1 December 1954) is an Australian equestrian. She represented Australia at five Olympic Games in the equestrian discipline of dressage (in 1996, 2000, 2004, 2012 and 2016).

Mary Hanna

Personal information
Nationality	Australia
Born	(1954-12-01) 1 December 1954 Melbourne, Australia
Height	173 cm (68 in) (2012)
Weight	63 kg (139 lb) (2012)
Sport
Country	Australia
Sport	Equestrian
Event(s)	Dressage
College team	Dressage Geelong

Personal

Hanna was born on 1 December 1954 in Melbourne, Australia.[1] She attended McArthur State School in Victoria before going to high school at Presbyterian Ladies College. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree.[1] Her husband is Rob Hanna, Equestrian Australia chef d'equipe.[2]

Equestrian

Hanna is an equestrian dressage competitor.[1] She has been coached by Kyra Kyrklund and Clemens Dierks since 1996.[1] Her primary training base is in Geelong, Australia. She is a member of Dressage Geelong and has a scholarship with the Victorian Institute of Sport.[1]

Hanna competed at the 1996, 2000, 2004 2012 Summer Olympics and 2016 Summer Olympics.[1][2][3][4] In 1996, she finished twenty-fourth in the individual event.[1] In 2000, she finished thirty-fourth in the individual event and sixth in the team event.[1] In 2004, she finished thirty-ninth in the individual event.[1] In 2012, she finished forty-third in the individual event and ninth in the team event.[1] She was the last Australian competitor to qualify for the 2012 Summer Olympics.[1][5] She was the oldest Australian equestrian competitor at the Games.[1] She rode Sancette.[3][4] Her 2012 selection was subject to scrutiny following allegations by Hayley Beresford, Australia's top ranked female dressage competitor, that there was bias by Equestrian Australia in the team selection process which Beresford charactertised as "blatant bias and double standards."[2][6]

Hanna finished 3rd at the 2011 CDI3 Grand Prix held in Biarritz, France.[1] She finished 7th at the 2012 CDI3 Grand Prix held in Compiegne, France.[1] She finished 12th at the 2012 CDI4 Grand Prix held in Hamburg, Germany.[1] She finished 19th at the 2012 CDI3 Grand Prix held in Mannheim, Germany.[1] She finished 7th at the 2012 CDI3 Grand Prix held in Viduaban, France.[1]

She has qualified for the 2014 FEI World Cup Dressage Final in Lyon, France where she finished 15th. At the 2014 World Equestrian Games held in Normandy, Hanna finished 10th in team dressage and 29th in individual dressage.

In 2016, Hanna qualified once again for the World Cup finals in Gothenburg, Sweden, where she finished 15th. Later that year she competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She placed 9th in the team and 39th in the individual dressage competitions. At age of 61, she became the oldest Australian athlete ever to compete at the Olympics, surpassing a fellow equestrian and multiple medalist Bill Roycroft.[7]

References

1. "London 2012 - Mary Hanna". Australia: Australian Olympic Committee. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
2. Samantha Lane. "Bitter bias claims embroil Olympic dressage team". Brisbane Times. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
3. "Horses Australian equestrian teams named". Weekly Times Now. 13 June 2012. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
4. Jenny Rudall. "Australian teams selected for Olympics". Horse and Country TV. Archived from the original on 21 June 2012. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
5. "Horses Olympic dreams hang by thread". Weekly Times Now. 11 June 2012. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
6. Andrew Stevenson, Louise Hall. "Not a fair crop: Olympic discard who outrode tycoon's granddaughter". Sydney, Australia: Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
7. "Oldest Olympian in Rio Olympics – Australian Mary Hanna". SBS. 12 August 2016. Retrieved 14 February 2017.