The First Woman to Win an Olympic Equestrian Medal

Prior to 1952 women were not permitted to compete in the Olympic Equestrian events. The door was opened at the Helsinki Olympics where Lis Hartel won an individual silver medal in dressage. She repeated her win in 1956 when the equestrian events for the Melbourne, Australia Olympics were held in Stockholm, Sweden due to Australian quarantine regulations. Her accomplishment was more remarkable because Hartel had overcome polio and was still paralyzed from the knees down.