Olivia Barton: Equestrian, Eventing (Wellington, NSW)

This Saturday, Olivia Barton and her horse Holly will board a plane headed for a pre-Olympics training camp in Europe. She’s an eventer – who’s been riding since before she could walk – on her family sheep and cattle farm near Wellington in central west NSW. But this is an Olympic story with a bit more complexity because Olivia’s name isn’t on the Australian Equestrian Olympic team list, nor is she a reserve. But she and her horse will still travel with the team – as an extra ‘just in-case’. And this is the difficult and devastating underside of the Olympics that we don’t often hear about. For all the excitement, nerves and fears of competing in the Olympics, there’s an equal amount of disappointment, frustration and bravery for those who lie in the ‘almost got there’ camp. Her mum tells me Olivia is determined to just ‘keep doing what she’s doing’ in inverted comma’s and will continue to train as if she’s going to the Olympics. When I spoke with Olivia the final Olympic team announcement was still pending. Which I’m glad about because you’ll get an insight into the hopefulness of a young athlete on the brink of selection. This is a Manson Podcasting production in partnership with Rabobank Australia. Production assistance by Alice Mofitt. Follow along @mansonpodcasting on Instagram for more olympics information specific to these stories.