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Olympic show jumping champion Eric Lamaze confirms brain tumour

Canadian Olympic show jumping champion Eric Lamaze has revealed he is battling a brain tumour. The 51-year-old won individual gold and a silver medal in team jumping at the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing and bronze at the 2016 Olympics in Rio.

Montreal native, 51, has been dealing with cancer for more than a year 

CBC Sports ·
Canadian Olympic show jumper Eric Lamaze, 51, seen here competing at the 2016 Olympics, has been dealing with a brain tumour for more than a year. (John MacDougall/AFP/Getty Images/File)

Canadian Olympic show jumping champion Eric Lamaze has revealed he is battling a brain tumour.

Lamaze, 51, confirmed to RMC Sport on Tuesday that he's been dealing with cancer for the last year and a half.

"It took me a very long time to be able to discuss it with the people around me," Lamaze told RMC Sport. 

"The last thing I wanted was to scare them; I did not know how to tell them. I withdrew a little socially from a lot of people already. I was going to bed very early. I was trying to keep riding.

"I had decided to continue riding until the day when I couldn't anymore," he added. "My head was alright but my body was saying no. Then I decided to leave [the USA] because I thought it was the end."

Famed horse Hickstead

The Montreal native took a six-month break before returning for the 2019 Winter Equestrian Festival Grand Prix in April where he finished 12th.

Lamaze, the most decorated Olympic rider in Canada, continued to move forward as he placed second at the most recent event  in France.

Riding on his famed horse Hickstead, Lamaze captured an individual gold medal and a silver in team jumping at the 2008 Beijing Games.

After Hickstead's death at a competition in 2011, Lamaze rode on and earned a bronze medal at the 2016 Olympics in Rio.

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