Hi Nick, how are you? I’m good thank you, Small Talk.
It’s a bit noisy. I’m just at the races at Cheltenham with our runners but I can have a quick chat, no problem.
Lovely. Congratulations on a fantastic year and your Sports Personality of the Year nomination. Thank you. When they gave the nominations out I got a call and I think it was a bit surprising. I was very honoured to be nominated, as you might say.
You sure might. Were you surprised fellow Olympic gold-medalist Charlotte Dujardin wasn’t nominated? Well I think they’ve got Sophie Christiansen as well so we’ve got two equestrians in there, Sophie and me. I don’t know – who are the panel that picked it? I don’t know. It’s nice to be nominated, and it would be nice to win.
You won showjumping gold in Rio in dramatic style with a six-way jump-off. Did you think your final run was good enough for gold? You’re never certain doing those things but I thought I had a good chance. I prefer going first anyway to put the pressure on the other ones and with a horse like him (Big Star), he’s so good, you know he’s on your side, so I was quietly confident of getting a medal.
It made you the oldest British winner of an individual Olympic gold for more than 100 years. Are you tired of people like Small Talk qualifying your achievement with your age? No not really [chuckle]. It’s nice people think of you that like that and I’m just very honoured to win at that age. It’s something you’ve spent all your life trying to achieve and then you finally get it.
Your story is all the more inspiring after you retired in 2000. Tell us about that. Yeah, I was riding at a show and I had a bad fall. I landed on my head and broke my neck.
Did doctors tell you to retire? That’s what they said, that’s what they thought, and I didn’t ride again for nearly two years. I went round a lot of specialists and had it checked out until I found someone that thought it would be OK to ride. So that was the decision I took, the one I wanted to hear really.
How did it feel when you first competed again? I just felt happy to be doing it. Like riding a bike, you never forget do you?
You are also famous for pulling off the high jump record on live television, was it 7ft and 8ins? That’s right.
Where does that rank on your long list of achievements? It’s a thing people remember from all those years ago because it was on live TV and it was a big jump. At that time of my life, when I was 21, it ranked quite highly. Obviously a lot of water’s gone under the bridge since then and a lot of other things have come along.
Is it true your autobiography, Only Falls and Horses, sold out immediately after the Olympics? It is yeah, and I’m thinking of doing an update, adding 16 years on to that and I’m looking into it at the moment.
Is the TV show close to your heart? Yeah. I’m a big fan of Fools and Horses, I watch it over and over and over again. A big fan.
Small Talk likes it too, up to and including the moment when Del and Rodney celebrate becoming millionaires in the van. What’s your favourite moment? I think my favourite one is probably when he goes off the cliff in a hand-glider.
Ah, yes. We sense your time is short so here are a few quickfire questions. You’re a dog-lover but which do you prefer, dogs or horses? Horses.
Chocolate or cheese? Chocolate.
Gary Lineker or Clare Balding? Clare Balding.
Favourite film? True Grit.
Is it true you started riding at 18 months old? Yeah, on my pony Oxo.
If you were to go back in time and take up another sport, away from horses, what would it be? Horse racing.
Yep, sure, but if it couldn’t involve horses? We know you love horses, Nick. Any other sports? Downhill skiing.
Really? I used to watch it when I was younger when I had a bit more time, but I still like to follow winter sports.
OK. We’ll let you get back to the races. Bye, Small Talk.
Bye, Nick!
• To see Nick Skelton at Olympia, the London International Horse Show on Thursday 15th December, purchase tickets at www.olympiahorseshow.co.uk
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