Olympic champion Mark Todd is the first recipient of the big red book as host Bob Parker launches the New Zealand edition of This is Your Life. Weeks earlier, Todd and mount Charisma had won the country's first ever equestrian gold medal at the Los Angeles games. There's footage of Todd's agonising wait, cigarette in hand, for American rider Karen Stives to make a mistake that would give him victory. Guests include Todd's parents (who recall him as a "lovable horror" as a boy), Captain Mark Phillips (then husband of Princess Anne), Stives and bronze medallist Virginia Holgate.
It was your cross country round that caught our imagination. From that time on, we knew that Mark Todd would be a name to be reckoned with.– Captain Mark Phillips recalls Mark Todd’s first Badminton win
Thanks to format creator and rights holder Ralph Edwards Productions; Mark Todd, New Zealand Olympic Committee and Bob Parker, for allowing NZ On Screen to show this title and reproduce stills and footage featured in the programme on this website.
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