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Eventer Camilla Kruger has made history by becoming the first ever Zimbabwean to earn a place in equestrian at Olympic level, qualifying to compete at Rio.

Aboard her horse Sam The Man, Kruger qualified after securing top spot of FEI's Olympic qualification standing for Africa and the Middle East.

She labelled qualifying for Rio as the pinnacle of her career in a recent interview with The Standard in Zimbabwe.

“I have always dreamt of going to the Olympics to represent my country of birth," she said.

"Plus, I feel very honoured and proud for the country to be the first-ever Zimbabwean to represent at the Olympics for an equestrian sport.

“The qualification process took place between March 2015 and March 2016 and there was a place available for only one rider from the whole of Africa and Middle East. 

"So for one to qualify you have to be the highest-ranked rider in this category to get the place within this time frame. I did very well last year and managed to hold the ranking position by the cut off, which was March 6 2016.”

Now based in Surrey in the United Kingdom, Kruger's love for horses stemmed from her family's involvement with race horses.

“I have always loved the outdoors and horses from a very young age," she said,

"My family has always been involved in race horses in Africa and I learnt to ride on the retired ones on our farm. 

"This is where my love and passion started and I knew from a young age that I wanted to pursue a career with horses."

By Equestrian Life