Effective immediately, George Morris will coach the Brazilian show jumping team in the lead up and through the 2016 Rio Olympics, to be held this summer in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.
This news comes less than a month since media sources reported that former Brazilian chef d’equipe Jean-Maurice Bonneau, who had served as coach of Brazil’s show jumping team since 2010, had seen his contract end due to “the current economic situation of Brazil”, as cited on studforlife.com.
The coaching experience of Morris, who served as the United States chef d’equipe from 2005 – 2013, and had coached riders at Olympic Games since 1984 after a successful Olympic riding career of his own, is second to none. From his home in Wellington, Florida, where he will spend the winter focused on training his private clients (such as Andrew Ramsey, Tori Colvin, Alex Granato) and working with Brazilian riders based in Florida, Morris shared that when Team Brazil asked him to fulfill the role of team trainer, it was easy to say yes.
“I’m very good friends with lots of [the riders],” Morris said. “The short list has very good, very strong riders. I can’t comment on their horses because I don’t know them yet. The preparation for the Olympics has to be between America and Europe, and when we start working together we will have a schedule.”