January 6, 2026 
Equestrian is the only Olympic sport where men and women compete on equal footing. But you’d never know it from the show jumping world rankings.
Only one female rider, Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum, has ever reached the elusive world number 1 spot—and that was over 20 years ago in 2004. (File under: sport facts that hurt my heart.)
That stat alone is mildly depressing to be sure. But it’s also true of the majority. Very few riders will ever wear the coveted world no. 1 armband and when they do, they tend to hold onto to it for months, if not years, making the achievement all the more rare. Michaels-Beerbaum held it for 24 non-consecutive months. Henrik von Eckermann’s 32-month reign ended in May last year when he passed the armband to Kent Farrington.
No, what’s a more telling stat in terms of female ascension in show jumping is the scarcity of lady riders in the world top 10.
Since mid-2010, the rankings data currently available online, only seven women have cracked the top bracket of the world rankings. Seven.
IN 16 YEARS.
Easy Breezy Beezie Madden (USA) has been the most dominant during that period. She was a fixture in the world top 10 for all but a handful of months between the end of 2018 and early 2021 and consistently cracked the boys club in the years preceding, thrice rising to number 2 in the world (twice in 2014 and once in 2015). It’s a feat no other female show jumper has yet matched.
But since Madden shifted focus away from top sport in 2021 to developing future talent, the top 10 has been a frat house. All men. All the time. With nary a lady rider in sight.
Canada’s Tiffany Foster came closest to breaking the fray the month she was ranked world no 17. Aside from that, it’s been…*crickets* from the female cohort over the past four years.
That is until Laura Kraut.
In the fall of 2025 and just months before her 60th birthday, the American stalwart took up the mantle and shook up the brodeo on the Longines World Rankings.
Then just three months later, Nina Mallevaey made it two!
The 26-year-old French rider infiltrated the top 10 ranks in January 2026, for the first time in her career. It’s an event as rare as a Death Valley superbloom—a once in a decade occurrence that only happens when the perfect conditions (heavy rains, warmth) awaken dormant seeds, transforming the arid landscape into vibrant carpets of color.
That’s not even hyperbole. The last time two lady riders were ranked in the world top 10 was a decade ago in 2016 when another American/French duo made the cut, Madden and Penelope Leprevost (FRA). At their highest joint ranking, they were 4th and 5th, respectively. (Leprevost rose to no. 3 at her highest ranking.)
But there’s a ranking history peg higher still to match—and, hopefully, exceed.
For one glorious month in 2016 and another in 2010, three women ranked in the top 10. It was Madden, Leprevost and Luciana Diniz (POR) in 2016 and Edwina Tops-Alexander (AUS), Leprevost and Jessica Kürten (IRL) in 2010.
There are many reasons that so few female riders are making the top 10, none of which are related to their ability to ride a horse. But that’s another story entirely. The focus now is on who’s going to make it three in 2026 and inspire the legions of lady riders to come currently rising the ranks?
Sophie Hinners (no. 21) and Lillie Keenan (no. 32), we’re looking at you…
