John Russell​

Colonel John W. Russell’s love for horses began on his family’s dairy farm in Pennsylvania. When he was 7, his father gifted him his own horse, a pony named Spot, which he rode everywhere. His journey towards the Olympics had already begun. In the years after World War II, he led U.S. efforts in recruiting riders and horses, and then as a competitor in the 1948 and 1952 Olympics. ​

Russell joined the U.S. Army in 1943, where he received numerous decorations, including the Purple Heart, the Soldier’s Medal and the Bronze Star Medal. As a member of a cavalry unit, horses remained a big part of his life. After the war he was put in command of a cavalry division based in northern Italy, where he was able to hone his equestrian skills with Army-owned horses. In 1947, he was Italy’s leading rider. In 1948, he was reassigned back home to Kansas, where he taught advanced horsemanship and became a member of the U.S. Equestrian Team. That same year, he earned a spot on the show jumping team for the 1948 Olympics in London. In 1952, he made the team again in Helsinki, where he won a bronze medal in show jumping. His other competition titles are too many to list. In 1956, Russell retired from competitive riding.​

After retiring from competition, Russell became the head of the United States Modern Pentathlon Training Center at Fort Sam Houston in 1956, where he coached six U.S. Olympic modern pentathlon delegations and 22 World Championship teams over the next several decades. He organized the 1959 and 1977 World Modern Pentathlon Championships, the latter of which was held in San Antonio. He later owned and operated the Russell Equestrian Center in San Antonio, helping grow new generations of riders. Russell died in 2020 at the age of 100.​