David Marcus riding Chrevi’s Capital was officially nominated to the 2012 Canadian Olympic Team for dressage on July 5. Photo by Cealy Tetley

July 5, 2012 – Calgary, AB – David Marcus of Campbellville, ON, was officially nominated to the Canadian Olympic Team for dressage in a Canadian Olympic Committee media announcement made July 5 in Calgary, Alberta. Marcus and his horse, Chrevi’s Capital, owned by Deborah Miculinic, will compete in the dressage portion of the 2012 London Olympic Games held August 2 to 9 in Greenwich Park.

Having gained his Canadian citizenship on December 28, 2011, just days before the Olympic declaration deadline, and having only competed in his first event at the Olympic level of grand prix in January, it has been a whirlwind seven months for Marcus. Following back-to-back victories at CDI3* Burlington, ON, and CDI3* Lexington, KY, in May, Marcus and Chrevi’s Capital found themselves ranked second on the Canadian Olympic qualifying leader board.

“It feels real now, it is all starting to sink in,” said Marcus, 31, who is currently competing at the CDI3* Hartpury international dressage competition in Great Britain from July 6 to 8. “We are part of the Olympic team and that is an amazing, amazing feeling!”

Marcus joins Ashley Holzer and Jacqueline Brooks in representing Canada in dressage competition at this summer’s Olympic Games. For Marcus and the owner of his horse, Deborah Miculinic (nee Kinzinger), representing Canada at the Olympic Games is a dream come true.

“I am incredibly lucky to have Deborah supporting me; she is as excited as I am about the Olympics,” said Marcus. “This is so far from what we expected when we put in our Olympic declaration! We knew it was a long shot. I am so excited to share this dream with her.”

“I’m thrilled to see David and Capital progress over the past six months to a level where they can compete with the best the world has to offer,” said Miculinic of King City, ON. “To earn a spot on this Canadian team with Olympic veterans like Jacqueline Brooks and Ashley Holzer is a dream come true. I am thrilled for David and very, very proud of him. I am sure our team will make all Canadians proud.”

After Marcus’s second place ranking on the Olympic leader board became official, he had one week to pack everything he and his horse would need to represent their country in London and flew with Chrevi’s Capital to England on June 24. Following the competition in Hartpury, the Canadian Olympic Team for dressage will begin a training camp in Stratford-Upon-Avon before moving to the Greenwich competition venue on July 28.

Marcus owns and operates David Marcus Dressage in Campbellville, ON, a training facility for dressage athletes. While he is training for and competing at the Olympic Games, Nicholas Fyffe of Australia has stepped in to fill the role of trainer and coach in Marcus’s absence. That role has added importance this year as two of Marcus’s students, Alexandra Reid of Carlisle, ON, riding Deborah Miculinic’s V.I.P. and Jonah Freedman of Toronto, ON, riding his own horse Ulex, will represent Ontario, Canada at the North American Junior and Young Riders’ Championship. Considered a mini-Olympics for athletes aged 14 to 21, this year’s Championship event will be held from July 17-22 in Lexington, Kentucky, site of the 2010 Alltech World Equestrian Games.

“Nick is taking care of the business at home, riding my other horses as well as training and preparing my students for their own version of the Olympics, the North American Young Riders’ Championship,” said Marcus, himself a five-time veteran of the North American Young Riders’ Championship. “The process has been made so much easier thanks to Nick, who was also my ‘eyes on the ground’ for both CDI Lexington and CDI Blainville. It is so hard not to be there supporting my students, but I know they are enjoying working with him and that he will capably lead my young riders to the biggest championship of their developing careers.”

Born in Omaha, Nebraska, Marcus has lived in Canada since he began attending McMaster University in Hamilton, ON, at the age of 18. He made his Canadian Dressage Team debut riding in the CDIO3* Wellington Dressage Nations’ Cup in Wellington, Florida, in April of this year.

For more information, please visit www.davidmarcusdressage.com.