Daniel Bluman

Daniel Bluman (born 15 March 1990) is a Colombian-born Israeli Olympic show jumping rider.[1][2] In July 2019 Bluman, as part of Israel's four-rider squad, qualified to represent Israel at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

Daniel Bluman
Daniel Bluman riding Cantando (2013)
Personal information
National team Israel
Born (1990-03-15) March 15, 1990
Spouse(s)Ariel Epstein
Sport
Country Israel
Medal record
Equestrian
Representing  Colombia
Central American and Caribbean Games
2014 VeracruzTeam jumping

Early and personal life

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 represents Israel in competition. The two have a son named Avi, who was born in 2018.[4][12]

Riding career

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

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

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]

Bluman, along with Ashlee Bond, Danielle Goldstein Waldman, and Elad Yaniv became the first Israeli equestrian jumping team to qualify for the Olympics.[12] The team qualified for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo by winning a 2019 qualification tournament at Maxima Park in Moscow, Russia.[12][15] The team's coach, Dutch-born Jeroen Dubbeldam, won a gold medal for the Netherlands in the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games.[15]

References
  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 2020-04-18. Retrieved 2019-05-19.
  3. "Daniel Bluman - Longines Global Champions Tour". Globalchampionstour.com. 1990-03-15. Retrieved 2019-12-08.
  4. "Olympic Veteran Daniel Bluman Switches Flags to Ride for Israel"
  5. ""Dream Big, Make A Plan And Work Tirelessly Until You Make It Happen" Words of Wisdom with Daniel Bluman". Medium.com. 2018-05-01. Retrieved 2019-12-09.
  6. "Daniel Bluman: The Olympic Rider Jumps From Colombia to Israel". Sidelines Magazine. 2018-09-06. Retrieved 2019-12-08.
  7. "Daniel Bluman's Best Year Yet"
  8. Iliff, Elizabeth. "Daniel Bluman: Aiming High - Expert how-to for English Riders". Practical Horseman. Retrieved 2019-12-09.
  9. Sharon Robb (2018-03-10). "Olympic show jumper Daniel Bluman carries Israel's hopes - West Palm Beach, FL". The Palm Beach Post. Retrieved 2019-12-08.
  10. Robb, Sharon (2019-02-13). "Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup returns to Wellington for first time in five years - West Palm Beach, FL". The Palm Beach Post. Retrieved 2019-12-09.
  11. Christie Gold (2009-10-26). "David Bluman; Grand prix jumping's rising star". Florida Sport Horse Magazine. Retrieved 2019-12-09.
  12. "Daniel BLUMAN". Vwww.fei.org. Retrieved 2019-12-08.
  13. "Daniel Bluman". The Hampton Classic. 1990-03-15. Retrieved 2019-12-08.
  14. "Israel's first ever victory in Rome thanks to Daniel Bluman - Equestrian - Eurosport Asia". Asia.eurosport.com. 2019-05-28. Retrieved 2019-12-09.
  15. Friedman, Gabe (2019-07-01). "In first, Israeli show jumpers qualify for Olympics". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 2019-12-09.
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