Lis Hartel – an extraordinary equestrian

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Lis Hartel – an extraordinary equestrian
Susanna Hedenborg
To cite this article: Susanna Hedenborg (2017) Lis Hartel – an extraordinary equestrian, Sport in
Society, 20:8, 1030-1046, DOI: 10.1080/17430437.2016.1175137
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SPORT IN SOCIETY, 2017
VOL. 20, NO. 8, 10301046
https://doi.org/10.1080/17430437.2016.1175137
© 2016 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
Lis Hartel – an extraordinary equestrian
Susanna Hedenborg
Department of Sport Science, Malmö University, Malmö, Sweden
Introduction
e aim of this article is to analyse the life story of the Danish equestrian Lis Hartel from
gender and disability perspectives. Hartel was born on 14 March 1921 and died on 12
February 2009 (Danish Biographical Lexicon (DBL); Danish Women’s Biographical Lexicon
(DWBL): Gravsted; MyHeritage; Gravsted). She was one of the international top riders of
her time as proven by her silver medals in the Olympic Games in 1952 and 1956 (Olypmic.
org; SOK; Sports Reference). In addition, she was one of very few women competing in a
gender-mixed sport at this level, and she was the rst woman to win an Olympic medal
in the dressage event (Hedenborg 2009; Hedenborg and Hedenborg White 2012). She was
also the only Olympic equestrian competitor who had suered from polio competing in
the Games – long before the establishment of para-equestrian dressage in 1996 (FEI 2016).
How were her accomplishments possible and how was her story told in media? Was she
seen as a superwoman, or to borrow a concept from disability studies, a ‘supercrip’? Or
was she ridiculed as many contemporary female athletes? It will be argued that Hartel’s
achievements both challenged and fullled contemporary constructions of gender and the
body. Furthermore, the negotiation of her public persona will be explored.
ABSTRACT
The aim of this article is to analyse the life story of the Danish
equestrian Lis Hartel. Hartel was an international top rider as proven
by her silver medals in the Olympic Games in 1952 and 1956. She
was one of few women competing at this level in a gender-mixed
sport, the rst woman to win an Olympic medal in the dressage event,
and the only equestrian competitor who had suered from polio. She
also developed therapeutic training methods that inspired others.
To understand Hartel’s status as an extraordinary sportswoman, her
extreme eorts, training methods and high level of performance
must be contextualized. In this article, the analysis of her life story
focuses on how her accomplishments challenged contemporary
constructions of gender and the body, as well as how her public
persona was negotiated. The analytical framework has been informed
by insights from gender and disability studies and the new biography.
CONTACT Susanna Hedenborg Susanna.hedenborg@mah.se

SPORT IN SOCIETY 1031
The analytical framework
Since the cultural turn in the 1990s, biographical studies have received new attention among
professional historians. Researchers within the eld of the so-called new biography dis-
cuss and problematize more traditional modes of biography, ie the tradition of coherently
describing and applying psychological theories to a famous person’s life (Söderqvist 1997;
Bale, Christensen, and Pster 2004). In the new biography, life stories are used to highlight
questions related to the social construction of both famous and ordinary men’s and women’s
lives in a specic context (Svensson 2011). e analysis of a life story puts the interplay
between agency and structure as driving forces in historical change to the utmost test, and
allows the concept of free will to be studied in theory and practice (Nilsson 1997). In addi-
tion, the study of an individual can illuminate deviations, thereby enabling the questioning
of a ‘master narrative’. e individual story can breathe life into, and provide more nuanced
answers to, questions about history (Götlind & Kåks 2004).
is article will focus on the life story of an extraordinary sportswoman. ere are cer-
tain risks involved in writing about such people, as a biographical study of a famous person
always risks becoming a hagiography – a biography embracing the person (Nilsson 1997; cf.
Hellström 2014). Heroic achievements are connected to media stories about athletes. Except
sport accomplishments the status as a hero is connected to an accepted national identity
(cf. Hellström 2014). is is possibly even more of a risk trying to analyse the life story of
a disabled athlete, as one media stereotype of the disabled person is the hero overcoming
a disability, or the ‘supercrip’. According to Berger
Supercrips are those individuals whose inspirational stories of courage, dedication, and hard
work prove that it can be done, that one can defy the odds and accomplish the impossible.
(cf. Ljuslinder 2002; Berger 2004, 798)
In order to avoid this it must be recognized that biographies are socially constructed and
must be understood in a social context. Life stories cannot be constructed freely in an
unlimited number of ways, as they are embedded in a certain historical context (Berger 2004;
Kristensson Uggla 2011). Furthermore, the biographer must be aware of how power relations
inuence people’s ability to construct life stories (Svensson 2011). is is of importance
here as it is clear that men and women do not have equal opportunities to shape their own
self-presentations, nor the same frameworks to do so (Liljeström 2011). Hartel’s life story will
be analysed in relation to the contemporarygendered (sport) context and the gender order
in general. Gender is produced and reproduced, and gender norms and ideals inuence our
thinking and behaviour, as well as perceptions, interpretations and evaluations. It has been
noted in previous research that gender structures can both be conserved and transgressed
within sport. Moreover, sport is also an arena in which conicts regarding the existing order
can be staged and negotiated (Hargreaves 1994, 2000; Butler 1998; Pster 2010; Hedenborg
and Pster 2012a, 2012b). e analysis in this article requires a discussion of how gender was
constructed at the time of Hartel’s performances. In addition, perceptions of the able body
have to be discussed. Many sports, including equestrian sports, were primarily practised by
men and connected to masculinity in the rst half of the twentieth century. In the media,
sportswomen were oen ridiculed and sometimes presented as ‘beauty queens’ rather than
athletes (Cahn 1994; Koivula 1999, Tolvhed 2010, 2008, 2012; Hedenborg and Pster 2015).
However, despite the ways in which gender shapes our lives and expectations as well as our
ideas, it seems to have been possible for some individuals to break norms and potentially

1032 S. HEDENBORG
alter them. In a study of eight famous women in nineteenth-century France, American
historian Jo Burr Margadant demonstrates how these women were controversial gures
challenging conventional notions of femininity in their time by deliberately creating their
public lives. She emphasizes that:
Gender systems in a particular time and place have a great power … to shape men and women
in established ways. ose who break the mold do so by exploiting unsuspected ssures that
over time may shatter prevailing gendered notions altogether.(Margadant 2000, 3)
e Swedish historian Kirsti Niskanen used the same perspective in her biography about
Karin Kock, the rst female member of the cabinet and professor in political economy in
Sweden (Niskanen 2007). Niskanen demonstrated how Kock used breaches and cleavages
in the gender order to create a place for herself in academia and in politics. She was a
norm-breaker actively entering male-dominated public institutions, yet she seems to have
handled this by downplaying her position and creating a public persona, which was credible
in public and to herself. In what way did Hartel exploit unsuspected ssures and how did
she negotiate her femininity and disability to create a public persona?
Sources
Lis Hartel was and is a person of great international interest. A Google search, 25 January
2015, on Lis Hartel generated more than 75 000 hits, making it obvious that a search for
information on Hartel has to be delimited. e main sources for the biographical accounts
for this article consist of the DBL, and the DWBL. Biographical information was also
collected from the Internet sites such as Gravsted and MyHeritage (a site for genealogy
research). More was found on Internet sites connected the Olympic Games and her inter-
national performances (Olympic.Org; SOK; Sports reference; FEI; WSF).
Media was used as a source for Lis Hartel’s public persona and the way her performances
were received by others. One of the YouTube clips of Hartel’s performances was especially
interesting as it included an interview with her conducted in 1984 when she described her
own recovery from polio and her own perceptions of how her performances were seen by
the public (Hartel on YouTube). In this interview, she also comments on other competitors’
reactions. For newspaper articles in Swedish about Hartel’s performances in the Olympic
Games, microlms of newspapers (Dagens Nyheter; Hufudstadsbladet; Morgontidningen,
Svenska Dagbladet and Vasabladet) and tabloids (Aonbladet, Expressen, Arbetet) for the
period from 10 July–10 August 1952 to 1 July–31 July 1956 were used. At the time of writ-
ing, e Swedish Royal Library is undergoing a process of digitalization and it will soon
be possible to search the papers electronically. As this was not an option at the time of
data collection for this article, however, the number of newspapers and tabloids as well as
the periods studied had to be limited. e search using microlms for these newspapers
produced 30 articles in which Lis Hartel was mentioned.
Aside from the search in the Swedish papers, digitalized searches of e Times (through
the Swedish Royal library), Canadian, American and Danish media were also conducted. A
search on the website MyHeritage generated 52 hits in 44 dierent Canadian and American
newspapers in the period 1954–2009. Most of the articles were from 1954, when Hartel vis-
ited the USA to participate in a national horse show in New York’s Madison Square Garden.
A search using Bibsam at Malmö University Library gave an additional 57 articles from
27 dierent Danish media producers (eg Radio, TV, newspapers, tabloids) in the period

SPORT IN SOCIETY 1033
2007–2014. Several of them only mentioned that Hartel had been a Danish top athlete,
and that she had been chosen to be included in the Danish Sports Canon. In connection
to Hartel’s death in 2009 there were a number of newspaper articles describing her life and
her tremendous impact on horse riding, female riders and riding as a therapeutic method.
In e Times Digital Archive 1785–1985 searches were done for ‘Olympic Games 1952’ and
‘Olympic Games 1956’ and 70 articles were found. Only two of them were of interest for
this article. One of these just mentions that two women represented Britain but that these
were outclassed in dressage (e Times, June 16, 1956). e other one mentions Hartel (e
Times, September 4, 1959).
e ocial Olympic reports for 1952 and 1956 have also been used as source material for
how Hartel was described during the Games (Olympic Report 1952; Olympic Report 1956).
Olympic regulations require the organizers of each game to publish a printed report that details
the course of the Games. e organizing committee is responsible for the contents of the report.
e 1952 report described press coverage and public relations as well as the participants and
actual competitive events. In 1956, the situation was somewhat dierent. e report that
covered the Equestrian Games in Stockholm mostly contained photographs from the Games.
Two additional texts have been of special importance for this article. Danish journalist
Paul Hammerich’s chronicle about Denmark 1948–1953 treats Lis Hartel’s Olympic achieve-
ments in some detail, and Hammerich described how her performances were received in
Denmark (Hammerich 1983). As Hartel was also one of the Danish athletes chosen to be
part of the Danish Sport Canon, a chapter on her by the Danish journalist Rebecca Vang
was included in the book about these athletes (Vang 2007). Vang has also published inter-
views with Hartel.
Lis Hartel – the beginning
Lis Hartel was born in 1921 and grew up in Hellerup, north of Copenhagen in Denmark.
She began her riding carrier in a local horse riding club. In the 1930s, Lis and her sister Tove
were taught and coached in riding by their mother Else Holst. In 1941, Hartel married the
Danish wholesaler and show jumping rider Poul Finn Hartel. She gave birth to two daugh-
ters, in 1942 and 1945, respectively. Hartel commenced her sporting career competing in
both dressage and show jumping, in national and international competitions. She eventually
came to focus on dressage, and became the Danish dressage champion in 1943 and 1944
(DBL; DWBL; Gravsted; MyHeritage; Gravsted).
Hartel was one of very few women competing in equestrian sports at this level. Historically,
horses were associated with men and masculinity in many parts of the world and horses
worked with men in agriculture, forestry, the transport sector and the army. In addition, the
strong connection between men and horses could be found in the expression ‘horseman’. Yet,
the history of men’s relationship with horses was complex. Although norms prescribed that
men should be the ones to ride and drive horses, there were, in practice, situations in which
women are known to have driven horses pulling ploughs, sleighs or wagons, and in parts of
the world both men and women rode horses for transportation and leisure. Furthermore,
gender constructions of equestrian sports were challenged around the end of the nineteenth
century as horse riding became a leisure time activity for the European bourgeoisie and
men as well as women visited the new horse riding schools that were established in the big
cities. In some countries women hunted on horseback alongside men, and some women

1034 S. HEDENBORG
even rode bravely in circus acts (Hedenborg 2009; Forsberg and Tebelius 2011; Hedenborg
and Pster 2012b; Adelman and Knijnik 2013; Gillett and Gilbert, 2014; Hedenborg and
Hedenborg-White 2012; Munkwitz 2014; Hedenborg 2015; orell and Hedenborg 2015).
To understand Hartel’s opportunities as an equestrian, it is important to understand
the socio-economic context of the area in which she grew up. Hellerup has long been a
very auent municipality in Denmark. Equestrian sport was performed by ocers and
members of the upper class, and Hartel was one of several men and women including her
mother, sister and husband in the Copenhagen bourgeoisie who practised horse riding
(DBL; DWBL; Gentoe Rideklub). However, she was one of very few women who competed
in mixed-gender competitions at the national or international levels.
From wheelchair to horseback riding
In 1944, Hartel contracted polio (Poliomyelitis) (DBL; DWBL: Gravsted; MyHeritage;
Gravsted). As an eect of the disease, she became permanently paralyzed below the knees.
Her arms and hands were also aected, and her doctors sentenced her to an immobile life.
Little was known about therapeutic methods for training polio patients at the time, and
doctors questioned whether it was possible to train an impaired body. Hartel rebelled against
their judgement. Aer 16days in hospital, she returned home and began a training pro-
gramme that would continue for two years. She described a normal day in her life as follows:
At 8am I started training my arms and legs. ey were tied with strings that ran through pulleys
and had weights in the other end. At rst I was deadly tired when I had raised and lowered my
limbs a few times and maybe I would have cheated if my mother hadn’t been sitting beside me
looking stern. (Hammerich 1983, 78–79)
At the time, polio was a reality for many people in Europe and the rest of the world.
Outbreaks were common before the vaccination campaigns began in the middle of the
1950s (WHO; Axelsson 2004; Svensson 2012). Polio is caused by a virus, which causes u-
like symptoms. e disease is highly contagious, and was seen as a children’s disease (thereof
the name, infantile paralysis) up until the twentieth century. Most children were infected
at some stage during childhood and developed immunity. Irreversible paralysis aected
one in 200 infected patients, and between 5 and 10 per cent of those who suered paralysis
died from immobilized breathing muscles. ere is no cure for polio, and symptoms can
resurface years aer the patient has recovered.
e horrifying reality of polio was not least evinced by the press coverage of Hartel’s
performances. e fact that she had trained and resumed her athletic career aer suering
from polio was underlined with respect in numerous articles. In the Winnipeg Free Press,
her training programme was described thus:
Back home from the hospital she spent her days strengthening her legs and arms with sandbags
on pulleys. Next, she got rubber pads for her knees so that she could crawl about the hose.
From her knees she pulled herself up on a tandem made of two bicycles clamped side by side.
At rst her feet were tied to the pedals. And her husband did all the pumping. But soon she
could do her share. Finally, aer all this and two leg operations, she said: ‘Take me to the stable.
I want to try Gigolo (her horse, remark by the author).’ She was helped in to the saddle and
she rode. But aer only three minutes she had to be lied down, exhausted and put to bed for
three weeks. en she went back and tried again. en back to bed. en back to the horse.
(Winnipeg Free Press, November 1, 1954, 33)

SPORT IN SOCIETY 1035
In an article in the Mexico Evening Ledger, Hartel’s accomplishments were mentioned
alongside other athletes who had returned to competing aer contracting polio.
From wheel chair to horseback riding was the sequence for Mrs Lis Hartel. (Mexico Evening
Ledger, January 10, 1953, 1)
e way her story was told can be seen as a narrative of the ‘supercrip’. It was used as an
example of what could be achieved and how odds could be deed. Yet, her story was not just
constructed by media. Hartel seems to negotiate this role – the myth of a self made (wo)man
(cf. Berger 2004, 801). She underlined that others supported her and that her mother kept
an eye on her training. In another interview, she emphasized that her husband supported
her in many ways (Politiken 13 February 2009). According to Hartel, she never doubted
that she would be able to move again. In interviews she underlined that:
never dreamt that I would not be lively again – I speculated about how I could be. (Hammerich
1983, 78)
e importance of recapturing her former identity as a rider is evident in the interviews with
Hartel. Similar ways of constructing identity are found in contemporary interviews with
disabled riders (Dashper 2010; Lundquist Wanneberg 2014). In an interview from 1984,
Hartel underlined that her disability forced her to develop techniques that made her a better
rider as she could not use her muscular strength – without these techniques she would not
have been a top athlete (Hartel on YouTube). In other words, Hartel was active in creating
a public persona as an athlete and a person achieving what others thought was impossible.
Licked polio to win prize
Hartel resumed horse riding and competing aer some time and was once again national
dressage champion in 1952–1954, 1956 (with her horse Jubilee) and 1959 (with her new
horse Limelight). From 1951 onwards, she trained with the professional Danish coach
Gunnar Andersen. In 1952, she won a silver medal in the Olympic Games and in 1954, she
won the dressage world championships in Aachen. is was an unocial competition as
the Federation Equitation International (FEI), unable to decide where to host the champi-
onships, did not acknowledge the event. Aer winning the championships she was invited
to participate in the National Horse Show in New York’s Madison Square Garden between 2
and 9 November 1954. In 1956, she won a silver medal again in the Olympic Games (DBL;
DWBL: Gravsted; MyHeritage; Gravsted; Olympic.Org; SOK; Sports reference; FEI; WSF).
Swedish military ocer Henri S:t Cyr won the individual gold medal in dressage in 1952
and again in 1956 (Olympic.Org; SOK; Sports reference; Hedenborg 2009). S:t Cyr was well
known in Olympic circles since the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, in which he competed
as part of the Swedish eventing team. He was the national eventing champion in 1935, 1937
and 1939. e ocial Olympic report as well as newspaper articles from 1952 mention that
S:t Cyr was expected to win the gold medal in dressage. Hartel’s silver medal was perceived
as more surprising. Her performance is described as follows in the Olympic report:
Without in any way decrying the perfectly nished performance of the victor, S:t Cyr of Sweden,
quite special recognition must be awarded to the performance, marvellous from the sporting
and the human angle, of Mrs Lis Hartell [sic] of Denmark, which gained her Silver Medal.
(Olympic Report 1952, 515)

1036 S. HEDENBORG
e recognition of her ne performance was evident. e newspapers mentioned Hartel’s
restricted physical ability and expressed admiration for her achievements in the compe-
titions. e media treated her disability in varying ways, portraying her as the victim of a
cruel disease; as a heroine who had overcome its consequences; as a silver medallist despite
her disability; and as a silver medallist due to her disability forcing her to use new and
eective training methods. e dierent ways of telling her story are similar to other media
stereotypes of disabled people (Ljuslinder 2002). In 1952, aer winning the silver medal,
Hartel’s achievements were commented on thus:
Her performance is even more notable as she has suered severe infantile paralysis which still
aects her in one of her legs and she must be supported while walking. Yet, she could perform
extraordinarily well. (Expressen August 1952)
Media connected her performance to other polio suerers:
is was not only a brilliant silver victory, her performance gives hope to people suering from
infantile paralysis all over the world. (Expressen August 1952, cf. Aonbladet August 1952)
e media did not only mention her performance in the dressage competition; the prize
ceremony at the 1952 Olympic Games was also described in both text and pictures showing
a crying Hartel on the podium. Journalists underlined that Hartel was unable to climb the
podium herself and that her husband supported her up to the podium, and that her com-
petitor Henri S:t Cyr assisted her as she ascended (Vang2007). Hartel later commented thus:
e hardest thing was to stand on the podium. (Hammerich 1983, 78)
In an interview from 1984, Hartel revealed that the others on the podium also cried – again
negotiating her public persona (Hartel on YouTube). In connection with her performance at
the National Horse Show in the New York’s Madison Square Garden in 1954, several papers
published the same item mentioning that she was an Olympic Games silver medallist and
a champion, and that she was going to perform during the show (Pulaski Southwest Times,
October 20, 1954, 6; Atchison Daily Globe, October 21, 1954, 20; Middlesboro Daily News,
October 16, 1954, 7; e Rhinelander Daily news, October 18, 1954, 6; Fredrick news- Post
Fredrick, October 28, 1954, 11; Amarillo Daily News, October 30, 1954; e Ogden Standard-
Examiner, October 21, 1954, 11; Camden News, November 4, 1954; Kingsport Times, October
17, 1954, 4; Beatrice Daily Sun, October 24, 1954, 10). Aerwards, her performance was
praised in the papers. e press wrote: ‘Danish Mother Steals Horse Show Spotlight’ (Evening
Independent Massilon, November 4, 1954, for a similar heading see e Daily Chronicle
Centralia, November 4, 1954, 6; Newport Daily News, November 4, 1954, 10) and ‘Danish
blonde wins applause’ (Biddeford Journal, November 1954, 4, 6). Other riders in the show
were only mentioned very briey. e headings are clearly gendered and underline Hartel’s
femininity. In the articles Hartel’s victory over the horrifying disease was acclaimed, and it
was described how she had suered from polio but trained to regain her strength. She was
lauded as a champion and as ‘supercrip’. ere were also headings like ‘Licked Polio To Win
Prize at Horse Show’ (Indiana Evening Gazette, November 4, 1954, 26) or ‘Housewife Beats
Polio To Win Riding Honors’ (Winnipeg Free Press, November 1, 1954, 33).
Furthermore, her accomplishments in dressage were presented to an audience
that was unused to judging what was good quality in the event. e Biddeford Journal
wrote:

SPORT IN SOCIETY 1037
Dressage to the uninitiated is the art of demonstrating perfect coordination of the rider and
mount in intricate steps and changes of gait and pace without any apparent guidance by the
rider. (Biddeford Journal, November 4, 1954, 6)
Similar descriptions also featured in other papers. Diculties were underlined and it was
repeatedly mentioned that Hartel began warming up an hour before her performance.
Furthermore, she was quoted saying that she had trained Jubilee since the latter was
three years old (Council Blus Iowa Nonpareil, October 31, 1954, 13; Biddeford Journal,
November 4, 1954, 6; Pacic Stars and Stripes, November 7, 1954, 12; e Lethbridge
Herald, November13, 1954, 2; Austin Daily Herald, November 4, 1954, 25; e Bridgeport
Telegram,November 4, 1954, 20). In Councils Blus Iowa Nonpareil, her competence was
underlined through a comparison with a well-known baseball player:
is makes Mrs Hartel to horsemanship what Willie Mays is to baseball. (Council Blus Iowa
Nonpareil, October 31, 1954, 13)
Although very uncommon, sport for the disabled was not unheard of. In the 1904 Olympic
Games, the German American gymnast George Eyser competed in the gymnastics with
only one leg (Sports reference). Later on, Hungarian Karoly Takacs who was missing an arm
competed in pistol shooting in the 1948 and 1952 Olympic Games (Britannica). Previous
research has pointed to that sport for people with disabilities are a mid-twentieth-cen-
tury phenomena (DePauw and Gavron 1955). Furthermore, in 1948, the rst International
Wheelchair Games for men were held at Stoke Mandeville (a hospital in England) in con-
nection with the London Olympic Games (Polley and Inglis 2011). As mentioned above, the
newspaper Mexico Evening Ledger published an article on athletes who had performed in
competitions aer suering from polio (10 January 1953). e Lebanon Daily News wrote:
We have seen one-legged and one-armed football stars, one-armed high jumpers, crippled
ghters, diabetic tennis players, withered-armed golfers and totally blind wrestlers, bowlers
and golfers. Now we have a lovely, gracious woman, a 33-year-old mother of two children
who despite a 10-year siege of polio is world champion. (Lebanon Daily news, November 11,
1954, 16)
Hartel was also asked to give advice to other polio victims, and responded: ‘Fight!’Although
there were other disabled athletes competing at the elite level, it is clear that Hartel’s perfor-
mance was seen as astonishing. She was given much attention in the media, and her public
persona included her being a strong ghter against the disease – a heroine.
In 1956, Hartel’s performance in the Olympic Games was not acknowledged in the same
way in the American press. Brief items were published on the Swedish dressage victory and
the fact that Hartel nished in second place (European Stars and Stripes, June 19, 1956, 20;
Oakland Tribune, June 17, 1956, 56; e Independent Pasadena, June 17, 1956, 4; Wal la Wall a
Union Bulletin, June 17, 1956, 15; e Lima News, June 17, 1956, 3; Oak park Oak Leaves,
August 9, 1956; Syracuse Herald Journal June 16, 1956; Arizona Daily Sun Flagsta, June 15,
1956, 16). ere were more articles in the Swedish press, and Hartel was questioned about
her performance in relation to her physical capabilities. It was stated that she had performed
better in Stockholm than in Helsinki, as she had increased her training by one hour per day.
Hartel was described as a hard-working athlete and in interviews she stressed that dressage
requires everything to be perfect and that she could not relax (Expressen 6 June 1956).
Before the 1956 Games, one of the papers observed that Hartel was paralyzed in both
legs due to polio, but that her condition was not noticeable when she was on horseback
even though she could barely walk. Hartel had fought a hard battle to be able to ride again,

1038 S. HEDENBORG
and regaining this ability was her most important victory, according to the journalist. Once
again, her life story was connected to other polio victims, as Hartel’s life demonstrated to
others that a physically active life aer polio was possible (Dagens nyheter 19 June 1956;
Aonbladet 5 June 1956). In another paper, which also presented Hartel as a heroine, her
performance during the opening ceremony was described as follows:
e most popular athlete, yes it is without doubts the Danish Lis Hartel, who was met by a
veritable storm of cheering and she was smiling and waving to the 23,000 friends on the stands.
(Aonbladet, Olympiabladet, 10 June 1956)
e journalist also underlined that it would be very dangerous for her to fall o her horse.
is statement contributed to Hartel’s heroic image. She was called the ‘queen of the games’,
and her role as a model was emphasized in that she had fought hard with her disease rather
than staying bedridden, as many others with polio would have done.
Critique against the female riders
e fact that women were competing against men in gender-mixed events at this time
was controversial. An article in the Swedish tabloid Expressen from 1952 criticized the
inclusion of dressage as a discipline in the Olympic Games, arguing, among other things,
that the female competitors were not following the amateurs regulations for the Olympic
Games as they did not train their own horses. It was also contended that dressage did not
require athletic prowess as even old people and women could compete successfully. e
American papers also featured dressage, but underlined that even though the discipline
may look eortless it was extremely strenuous. In interviews, Hartel emphasized that she
had trained her own horse – possibly to negotiate the critique against the female riders not
following the rules. However, there was no critique of the female riders in the American
press. e USA had sent two competitors to the dressage event, one of them female: Marjorie
Haines (Sport reference). She was primarily a show jumper, but had retrained to be able
to compete in the Olympic dressage. It is possible that the lack of critique is due to the fact
that masculinity did not have a strong connection to dressage in the USA. e fact that
Truman closed down the cavalry in 1949 and that dressage does not seem to have been an
important part of American equestrian sports at this time speaks for such an interpreta-
tion (Eurodressage). A similar development has been depicted to Britain (Hedenborg and
Hedenborg White 2012).
e situation in Sweden was dierent, as masculinity and horse riding were still strongly
connected (Hedenborg 2009). In 1956, S:t Cyr’s son Guy S:t Cyr claimed that Hartel was
awarded extra points because of her gender and impairment, thereby depreciating her
performance. He was critical of the development of equestrian sports, asserting that the
female riders purchased their victories by employing excellent horse breakers, whereas the
male equestrians had to train their own horses. For this reason, he argued, women should
compete in separate events. Guy S:t Cyr did not address the fact that some women trained
their own horses, and that having trained one’s own horse could also be an advantage. He
also trivialized women’s performance in commenting that the female riders’ looks won them
additional points in the competition:
en it would become a good sport and the girls could ght about serving the referees with
their most beautiful smiles. (Morgontidningen 17 June 1956, 14)

SPORT IN SOCIETY 1039
Guy S:t Cyr’s father, Henri S:t Cyr, was quoted in another paper stating that women had
reached such a high performance level that they should be given their own competitions.
He underlined that he, and the other male riders, were not worried about the competition
from women (Svenska Dagbladet, 17 June 1956). It was stated in some articles that men
were superior riders, and referees who gave Gehnäll Persson, another Swedish competi-
tor, lower points than Hartel were depicted as unfair (Svenska Dagbladet, 17 June 1956;
Hufudstadsbladet 17 June 1956). Persson had competed in the Swedish dressage team in the
1948 Games too. Aer the Games the IOC found out that he was not an ocer – therefore
not seen as an amateur. Because of this he was disqualied (Hedenborg 2009). In 1956, the
tabloid Aonbladet Persson’s social class background was cited as an explanation for his
performance receiving lower points (Aonbladet 18 June 1956). Hartel did not comment
on the suggestions about gender-segregated competitions or whether or not the judges
favoured her unfairly. Instead she was quoted challenging her main opponent, S:t Cyr,
stating: ‘Next time I will beat you’. He responded: ‘at is not to become a habit’ (Dagens
Nyheter 17 June 1956, 5).
In later interviews, the conict between male and female riders in the rst years was
emphasized more strongly. In Hammerich’s book, it was stated that aer the 1952 games
Hartel was praised by the Danish women’s organization, whereas the Danish army ocers
were hostile (Hammerich 1983). In an interview in the Danish paper Politiken from 2009,
Hartel commented on the hostility she faced in the 1950s, underlining that the men were
appalled and furious at the fact that she had won the silver medal. She described them as
sore losers (Politiken 13 February 2009).
Negotiations of femininity
Hartel’s heroic status as a polio survivor and her competence as a rider were emphasized by
the media in the 1950’s, yet she was also presented according to norms regulating an accepted
femininity. Previous research within the new biography has shown that women who have
had important public roles were able to negotiate their public persona. For instance, the
nineteenth-century women that Margadant explored who
…ignored or sought to expand existing stereotypes faced a daunting and never-ending task
controlling others’ opinions of their femininity. (Margadant 2000, 2)
Niskanen presents a similar interpretation of Kock’s negotiations of her public persona.
In the rst part of the twentieth century, women were given attention in the public sphere
primarily as housewives and mothers, not because of their professional or political achieve-
ments (Niskanen 2007). In interviews, Kock made sure to stress that she did not support
her husband economically (Niskanen 2007). She was depicted as a role model and a symbol
of the modern woman working outside the home, but she was also portrayed as a keen
gardener and a good wife; roles connected to an accepted femininity (Niskanen 2007).
Female equestrians competing at the elite level were described as competent and hard-
working athletes, but also as beautiful women, wives and mothers taking care of their
families. Hartel’s femininity and the construction of her body were negotiated in public.
According to Dashper, disability and femininity are not seen as problematic in the same
way as masculinity and disability as femininity is already associated with weakness and
dependency. Yet, the combination of sport, femininity and disability are more culturally

1040 S. HEDENBORG
questionable (Dashper 2010). e construction of Hartel’s public persona was ambiguous. In
the American journals, headings like ‘Danish Polio Mother Dazzles Horse Show’ (e Daily
Chronicle Centralia, November 4, 1954, 6), ‘Danish Mother Steals Horse Show Spotlight’
(Evening Independent Massilon, November 4, 1954), ‘Danish blonde takes fancy’ (Pacic
Stars and Stripes, November 7, 1954, 12), ‘Housewife Beats Polio To Win Riding Honors
(Winnipeg Free Press, November 1, 1954, 33), and ‘Danish housewife to show horsemanship
to yanks’ (Council Blus Iowa Nonpareil, October 31, 1954, 13) were common together with
‘mother of two’ mentioned in the articles. Garland omson has underlined that ‘Whereas
motherhood is oen seen as compulsory for women, disabled women are oen denied or
discouraged from the reproductive role’ (Garland omson 1997, 26). In the stories about
Hartel, however, her role as a mother and wife was oen emphasized and seems to ‘nor-
malise’ her and make her full gender expectations.
In Swedish media, Hartel’s looks and family life were also commented on. Prior to the
commencing of the equestrian events in 1956, a portrayal of Hartel was presented in the
Swedish daily paper Dagens Nyheter. Hartel was pictured on her horse Jubilee, and both
her and her mother were described as ‘adorable’, emphasizing their feminine looks (Dagens
Nyheter 10 June). e all-female German dressage team members’ looks were also discussed
(Expressen 5 June 1956; Svenska Dagbladet, 17 June 1956; Aonbladet, 5 June 1956; for an
analysis see Hedenborg 2009).
e articles in the American papers began with the headlines quoted above. Aer that,
Hartel’s achievements were described and she was quoted saying that she had trained her
own horse. e fact that she warmed up for an hour before the performance was also
emphasized, and in one of the journals she responded to the description of her thorough
preparations process saying:
You really should see us riding to the Garden with me making up in front of a little mirror in
the van while we sway through the trac. (Pacic Stars and Stripes, 7 November 1954, 12)
In this quote, Hartel herself draw attention to her looks. In one of the Swedish papers, Hartel
responded to the question if women ride dierently from men:
is is a dicult question to answer. It is possible that we don’t push them (the horses, my
comment) as hard (as men because, author’s comment) as we are not strong enough. And it is
possible that strength could be an advantage. On the other hand, there are male equestrians
who ride so gently and skilfully that they seem impossible to exceed (in gently handling the
horse, authhor’s comment). (Aonbladet, Olympiabladet, 10 June 1956)
In this interview, Hartel underlined women’s relative weakness in comparison to men, thus
supporting a respected feminine ideal. However, she also emphasized that weakness may be
an advantage in dressage. us, she turned a potential disadvantage of female athletes into
a benet. In addition, she contested the social construction of the male rider, by referring
to men as gentle riders. Hartel’s statements can be interpreted as an attempt to negotiate
the gender system. In other passages, Hartel talked about her family life and her duties as
mother. In one interview, the journalist mentioned that although Hartel shared a home
with her husband, she lived on horseback. She answered:
I am here to do my very best. I have trained hard, without neglecting my home. At least that is
what my husband and my two girls assure me … (Aonbladet, Olympiabladet, 10 June 1956)
In another paper, Hartel was quoted telling the reporter:

SPORT IN SOCIETY 1041
I train every day when the children are at school. So don’t think that I neglect my family and
my home. (Morgontidningen 17 June 1956, 14)
Hartel also praised her husband for supporting her (Politiken 13 Feb 2009). Negotiations of
Hartel’s public role are apparent in these quotes. She was a hard-working athlete, but also
an ideal woman. Was this a way to negotiating her public persona in regards of her body –
making her ‘normal’ rather than disabled (cf. Ljuslinder 2002, 100–108)? is is possible,
but Hartel was not the only female equestrian balancing these roles. e German bronze
medallist Liselotte Linsenho’s family situation was commented on too in a similar way
(Expressen 17 June 1956) making it more likely that these negotiations were connected to
the athlete rather than the disabled body.
After the competitive career
In 1959, e Times published the article ‘Pony riding benet to crippled’ in which Hartel’s
endeavours were mentioned. It was stated that pony riding was used on the continent for
‘rehabilitating the physically handicapped – especially children and that in Scandinavia
‘there are several centers where pony classes are held for handicapped children’. e increas-
ing interest for this kind of rehabilitation was connected to Hartel (e Times, September
4, 1959). In the 1960s, Hartel was mentioned in some American papers. Her strivings to
become an athlete again aer polio were highly respected and held up as an inspirational
example. ‘Handicapped can compete’ was the heading for an article about, among others,
Hartel that was published in dierent papers (e Evening Standard Uniontown, July 19,
1966; Logan Herald Journal 18 July 1966; e Morning Herald Uniontown, July 10, 1966;
e Morning Herald Uniontown, July 10, 1966). It was noted that polio had diminished
Hartel’s strength by half, that she had learned how to walk using braces and crutches, and
that she had also developed a technique for riding. Her determination was seen as an
important part of her success, and she was presented as a role model, not only for people
with disabilities, but for all (cf. Somerset Daily American 23 January 1965).
In an interview in 1984, with Hartel talked about her life aer her riding career. She said
that it ended when she could no longer ride her horse Jubilee, and that even though the
Olympic Committee wanted her to compete she declined as she already knew she would
not nish among the top competitors (Hartel on YouTube). Her career was, however, far
from nished. Aer completing her competitive career, Hartel established an equestrian
centre north of Copenhagen in which she worked as a coach and developed horse riding
as a therapeutic method (Politiken 13 February 2009; Jyllands-posten 13 February 2009;
Folketidene 13 February 2009; BT 13 February 2009; Berlingske tidene 13 February 2009).
According to an interview with Vang, living conditions for the disabled became an impor-
tant issue for Hartel. She remained adamant that horseback riding was a good form of
training, as the horse’s movements exercised the rider’s muscles and tendons. She donated
her earnings from her performances in the USA (30 000 SKR) to a fund for the disabled
(Politiken 13 February 2009).
e training eect of horse riding on the rider was discussed in other countries as
well (Dashper 2010; Lundquist Wanneberg 2014; Michalon 2014). In 2008, the Gettysburg
Times published an article on the history of how riding as a form of exercise from antiquity
onwards (Gettysburg Times, January 28, 2008). British riding centres for the disabled opened
in the 1950s, and the Advisory Council on Riding for the Disabled was established in 1965

1042 S. HEDENBORG
(Dashper 2010; Michalon 2014). In France, centres opened in 1962. Equine-assisted ther-
apy was introduced to North America somewhat later. e American Medical Association
accepted the methods in the 1960s, and therapeutic riding came to be seen as an ‘invalu-
able therapeutic tool’ for dealing with patients with physical impairment. e techniques
spread worldwide, and soon organizations with a focus on therapeutic riding emerged. e
Community Association for Riding for the Disabled was established in Canada in 1965,
while in USA the North American Riding for Handicapped Association was founded in
1969 in Chicago. In that year the British Riding for Disabled Association was formed too.
A centre for disabled riders opened in 1970 in Dorn in the Netherlands and was named
aer Hartel: the Lis Hartel Foundation (Sports reference).
Hartel was celebrated as one of the world’s best athletes in numerous ways. In 1991,
Parade Magazine published an article on several ‘Olympic athletes who had excelled at more
than winning’ (Parade Magazine, April 21, 1991, 4–5). e same article was reprinted in
several papers (Kokomo Tribune, April 21, 1991; Madison Wisconsin State Journal, April
21, 1991; Intelligencer Doylestown April 21, 1991; Syracuse Herald Journal April 21, 1991).
Hartel winning the silver medal in 1952 was described as ‘one of the most dramatical and
emotional movements in Olympic history’. e way in which she regained of her strength
through her own training methods was described and acclaimed. In 1994, she became the
rst Scandinavian to be inducted into the International Women’s Sports Hall of Fame and
in 2005, she was named one of Denmark’s top-10 athletes of all time (Kulturministeriet 29
December 2005; Jyllands-Posten 28 December 2005; BT 22 September 2005). In 2007, she
became an honorary member of the Danish Equestrian Federation for her performances
as an athlete and for her signicance in popularizing equestrian sports (Ekstra-Bladet 21
September 2007; Jyllands-Posten 21 September 2007).
Lis Hartel died on 12 February 2009 and in the same year Dressurens venner (Eng:
‘Friends of dressage’) in Denmark together with the Hartel-Siesbye family founded a memo-
rial prize her name (dressurensvenner.dk).
Conclusion
e aim of this article was to analyse the life story of the Danish equestrian Lis Hartel, an
elite rider who competed in national and international dressage competitions, from gender
and disabilityperspectives. She was an Olympic dressage silver medallist in the 1950s, and
one of very few women who practised equestrian sports at the highest level in the mid-twen-
tieth century. Moreover, Hartel was the only rider competing at this level who had suered
from polio. In the contemporary newspapers, the accomplishments of Hartel and the other
female competitors were described in several ways, indicating that their public roles were
complex and ambiguous. It is however clear that Hartel’s achievements both challenged and
fullled contemporary constructions of gender and the body.
Previous research has shown that the biographical genre allows for examination of the
interplay of agency and structure and that some individuals can alter notions of gender,
although gender systems are powerful in shaping ideas of femininity and masculinity as
well as how men and women can and should behave. Hartel’s story was told in complex
and contradictory ways. She was portrayed as an exceptional, hardworking athlete and a
hero who had overcome polio and the expectations of the disabled body – a ‘supercrip’ (cf.
Berger 2004). is role was, however, negotiated as she described the support she got from

SPORT IN SOCIETY 1043
her family. Furthermore, her possibilities have to be understood in connection to a social
context. Hartel’s social background and family belonging are of importance. She belonged
to a social class and a family in which both men and women rode together and she was
supported by her family in her strivings.
Hartel was not only embraced. At least in Swedish media, there was critique against
the female equestrians competing in the Olympics. e critique was, however, silenced in
relation to Hartel as she was portrayed as a heroine overcoming polio. In contrast to many
female athletes in many other sports at the time, she seems to have been highly respected in
the media (cf. Cahn 1994; Koivula 1999, Tolvhed 2010, 2008). In that way, her endeavours
pushed through gender barriers in sport and made it apparent that dierent kinds of bodies
could perform at a high level. Nevertheless, the construction of her public persona was not
just connected to athleticism. Aside from being portrayed as a ‘supercrip’ and a dedicated
athlete she was presented in the media as a good-looking woman and mother. In other
words, described according to what was expected of an ideal woman.
Hartel was not only ascribed a role, she was active in the construction of her public per-
sona. In interviews, she underlined her competence and that she trained her own horse. Her
own descriptions of dressage as a dicult sport emphasized this further. In addition, she
portrayed herself as a ghter against a future ascribed to her by others in which her disease
would have made it impossible to even move around. Instead her struggle and hard training
made another life possible. She did, however, also put forward that she had not deserted
her family for her sporting carrier as she pointed out that was a good wife and mother.
Disclosure statement
No potential conict of interest was reported by the author.
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FEI 2016: http://www.fei.org/fei/disc/dressage/about-para-equestrian

1046 S. HEDENBORG
Fredensborg: http://fredensborg.lokalavisen.dk/lis-hartel-fylder-85-aar-/20060308/artikler/6030
80349
Gentoe Rideklubb: http://www.gek.dk/cms/ShowContentPage.aspx?ContentPageID=26
Gravsted: http://www.gravsted.dk/person.php?navn=lishartel
Hartel on Kvinfo: http://www.kvinfo.dk/side/597/bio/109/origin/170/query/Hartel/ (20141126)
Hartel on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrVIT1Aw2kA
KB tidningar-tidskrier: http://www.kb.se/soka/bibliograer/tidningar-tidskrier/nyalunxdstedt-
tidningar2008-09-22
MyHeritage: http://www.myheritage.se
Olympic.org: http://www.olympic.org/lis-hartel
SOK: http://www.sok.se/idrotter/arkivforidrotter/ridsport.5.18ea16851076df 63622800013493.html
2008-10-19
Sport Reference: http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ha/lis-hartel-1.html
WHO: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs114/en/
WSF:https://www.womenssportsfoundation.org/home/programs/awards/international-womens-
sports-hall-of-fame