Springsteen Earns Olympic Silver
• While Bruce Springsteen is no stranger to platinum and gold during his illustrious career, the family is proudly making space for some silver, too — Jessica Springsteen, the 29-year-old daughter of Bruce Springsteen and Patti Scialfa, and a member of the U.S. equestrian jumping team earned a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics last weekend.
As the AP reports via ESPN, Springsteen and the team, which also included Olympic veterans Laura Kraut and McLain Ward, came up just short of winning gold, falling to Sweden in a jump-off Saturday night that still left the Americans with a record 10th medal in the event. “I had really high hopes coming in today,” Springsteen said afterward. “It really gave me a lot of confidence and the ability to have big dreams of riding with them, so I’m just so excited.”
It’s a first Olympic medal for Ms. Springsteen, who made her Olympic debut in Tokyo. Riding powerful stallion Don Juan van de Donkhoeve, she clipped one rail in the primary round Saturday, as did Ward, leaving the U.S in a tie with the Swedes for first with eight penalty points. “I was happy we were able to pull it together and fight for the rest of the course,” Springsteen said.
This win also marks the second straight silver medal for the U.S. team, which won its last gold medal in 2008, also with Kraut and Ward on board. Springsteen said her parents have been watching from home, as athletes weren’t allowed to bring family to Japan amid the coronavirus pandemic. She said she was inspired to begin riding after watching her mother take lessons and began her training on the family’s farm in Colts Neck, NJ.
