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Daniel Bluman
Bluman riding Cantando in 2013
Personal information
National team Israel
Born (1990-03-15) 15 March 1990 (age 34)
Medellín, Colombia
SpouseAriel Epstein
Sport
Country Israel
SportEquestrian

Daniel Bluman (Hebrew: דניאל בלומן; born 15 March 1990) is an Olympic show jumping rider.[1][2] Born in Colombia, he represents Israel internationally and competed for his country of birth in the past. In July 2019 Bluman, as part of Israel's four-rider squad, qualified to represent Israel at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. He will represent Israel at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

Early and personal life

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Bluman was born in Medellín, Colombia.[3] His father, Samuel, is an entrepreneur, and his mother, Orly, is an Israeli psychologist and social worker.[3][4] He has a brother, Steven.[3] His Polish-born Jewish grandfather on his father's side, a Holocaust survivor whose entire family was murdered, was in the Auschwitz concentration camp for three years and later emigrated to Colombia.[5][4][6][7] His father's family is from Poland and Holland.[5] His grandfather on his mother's side is Israeli, and his mother's family is from Israel and Hungary.[7][5]

Bluman attended Hebrew school growing up.[4][8] When he was ten years old, he moved with his family to South Florida in the United States.[8] An alumnus of Cypress Bay High School in Weston, Florida, Bluman earned an associate degree in business from Florida Atlantic University, attending on a full scholarship.[9][10][8][11]

In 2016 Bluman married Ariel Epstein, an amateur rider who also represents Israel in competition. The two have two sons, Avi, who was born in October 2018, and Eli, who was born in January 2020.[4][12]

Riding career

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Bluman started riding horses at age three.[3] In 2004, he won the Gold Medal FEI Children World Championship at 16 years of age.[11] In 2007 Bluman moved to Wellington, Florida, where he started his professional riding career.[3] Bluman relocated to Belgium in 2013, where he trained with Nelson Pessoa for two years.[3]

Representing Colombia

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Bluman competed at three World Equestrian Games: the 2010 World Equestrian Games in Lexington, the 2014 World Equestrian Games in Caen, and the 2018 World Equestrian Games in Tryon.[3] He also participated at several regional games, including the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara (at which he finished 7th) and the 2015 Pan American Games.[8] He was a 2014 team gold medalist at the Central American and Caribbean Games in Veracruz, a bronze medalist at the 2016 LGCT Grand Prix of Hamburg, and a bronze medalist at the 2016 LGCT Grand Prix of Chantilly.[3]

Representing Colombia, Bluman competed at two Summer Olympics: the 2012 Summer Olympics in London and the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.[3] His best Olympic result came in 2012 when he placed 20th individually in jumping as one of the youngest competing riders.[4]

Representing Israel

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Bluman has been riding on behalf of Israel since late 2016.[13] He said

"Through it all, the one thing that has always remained with me is my culture; what it means to be Jewish and to come from a family who has had to go through the Holocaust. Israel means a lot to me. Israel is a country that accepts every person — it doesn't matter your sexual orientation, your race, your religion, your ideas. It's a country that embraces you without prejudice … This is an amazing philosophy of life from an area of the world where living is not so easy. I'm very proud and emotional when I think about representing the Israeli flag."[6]

He was named the 2018 Rider of the Year by L'Annee Hippique.[12][13] In May 2019, Bluman won the Rolex Grand Prix at CSIO Rome di Siena.[14]

In July 2019, Bluman, Ashlee Bond, Danielle G. Waldman, and Elad Yaniv won the Olympic Jumping Qualifier at Maxima Park in Moscow, qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics, the first time that Israel has earned a place in the Olympics in equestrian.[15][16] However, due to a technicality regarding the registration of his horse Gemma W, Bluman was deemed ineligible to compete just weeks prior to the start of the competition.[17]

He won the Grand Prix at the Hampton Classic Horse Show in 2017 on Ladriano Z and again in 2021 on Gemma W.

References

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  1. ^ "Daniel Bluman". fei.org. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
  2. ^ "Daniel Bluman Bio, Stats, and Results". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Daniel Bluman - Longines Global Champions Tour". Globalchampionstour.com. 15 March 1990. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Olympic Veteran Daniel Bluman Switches Flags to Ride for Israel". NOËLLE FLOYD.
  5. ^ a b c ""Dream Big, Make A Plan And Work Tirelessly Until You Make It Happen" Words of Wisdom with Daniel Bluman". Medium.com. 1 May 2018. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  6. ^ a b "Daniel Bluman: The Olympic Rider Jumps From Colombia to Israel". Sidelines Magazine. 6 September 2018. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
  7. ^ a b Showjumping, www worldofshowjumping com, World of. "Daniel Bluman's best year yet | World of Showjumping". www.worldofshowjumping.com.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ a b c d Iliff, Elizabeth. "Daniel Bluman: Aiming High - Expert how-to for English Riders". Practical Horseman. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  9. ^ Sharon Robb (10 March 2018). "Olympic show jumper Daniel Bluman carries Israel's hopes - West Palm Beach, FL". The Palm Beach Post. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
  10. ^ Robb, Sharon (13 February 2019). "Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup returns to Wellington for first time in five years - West Palm Beach, FL". The Palm Beach Post. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  11. ^ a b Christie Gold (26 October 2009). "David Bluman; Grand prix jumping's rising star". Florida Sport Horse Magazine. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  12. ^ a b "Daniel BLUMAN". Vwww.fei.org. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
  13. ^ a b "Daniel Bluman". The Hampton Classic. 15 March 1990. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
  14. ^ "Israel's first ever victory in Rome thanks to Daniel Bluman - Equestrian - Eurosport Asia". Asia.eurosport.com. 28 May 2019. Archived from the original on 9 December 2019. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  15. ^ Parkes, Louise (1 July 2019). "History is made as Israel pips Poland in mighty battle for Tokyo 2020 ticket in Moscow". FEI. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
  16. ^ "Tokyo 2020 team and individual quota places confirmed by FEI". FEI. 17 February 2020. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  17. ^ "No Olympic Games for Israel's Daniel Bluman". World of Showjumping. 30 June 2021. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
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