Bruce Springsteen’s Daughter Fails to Make Equestrian Team for Paris Olympics

Jessica Springsteen rides Volage du Val Henry at the Sweden International Horse Show at the Friends Arena in Solna, Sweden, on Dec. 1, 2019. (Christine Olsson/TT via AP)

The 2024 Paris Olympic Games are fast-approaching and over the weekend, U.S. Equestrian revealed its Olympic Jumping Team, with one famous face omitted from the lineup.

Jessica Springsteen, the Olympic silver medal-winning equestrian and daughter of rock legend Bruce Springsteen, will not be competing for gold in the summer games, according to a U.S. Equestrian news release.

Representing Team USA are Florida residents Kent Farrington and Laura Kraut, with their 2014 Oldenburg mare Greya and 2010 Hanoverian gelding Baloutinue, respectively.

Also heading to Paris is New York resident McLain Ward with the 2013 KWPN gelding Ilex, and California resident Karl Cook, who will serve as an alternate with the 2012 Selle Français mare Caracole de la Roque.

With the selection complete, U.S. Equestrian says it is now “100 percent laser-focused on Paris.”

“We are very lucky to have three of the most experienced athletes in the sport riding horses that are in top form heading into the Games. Additionally, we have a strong alternate athlete horse combination in Karl and Caracole who have shown great recent form,” said Chef d'Equipe Robert Ridland in the release.

In April, Ms. Springsteen was named as one of the top 10 athletes on the U.S. Jumping Team’s shortlist for the Olympics, a group that was “chosen for continued observation,” according to U.S. Equestrian.

Ms. Springsteen competed alongside Ms. Kraut and Mr. Ward during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics (held in 2021), earning the silver medal, the fourth medal in the past five Olympics for the U.S. team in the event.

At the time, Ms. Springsteen was riding her 12-year-old Belgian warmblood named Don Juan van de Donkhoeve and had more than 60 wins under her belt.

This year, the 32-year-old ranked 127th in the world, down from the number 14 standing she held heading into team selections three years ago.

Ms. Springsteen took her first lessons at just 4 years of age while living on her family’s farm in New Jersey. She appreciates the bond the sport shares between human and animal, where both serve a role as athletes relying on one another.

Speaking to Harpers Bazaar in May, she expressed her wish to make it to this year’s Olympics.

“Tokyo 2020 was such an incredible experience, but because of that year and all the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, you know, you couldn’t have your family and your friends there,” she said.

“So I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I would love to go to another Olympics and be able to share that with my family, who’ve been so supportive of my career for so many years.’”

The Olympic horse events are being held from Aug. 1 through Aug. 6 in Versailles, France.

Coverage and the opening ceremony for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games begins July 26 in the heart of the city.