Athina Onassis de Miranda

The Suicide of Cibele Dorsa & What It Means for Athina

2011-04-03T14:47:00.000-07:00

I never met Athina. Or Cibele. Or any of the parties involved. But I have a pretty good hunch that the two wives of Doda were not close. Yet for the eight years, Athina has been a mama in all but biology to Cibele's ten-year-old daughter, Vivianne, and for the past maybe two years, she has also been a quasi-mama to Cibele's pre-teenage son, Fernando. And now that Cibele has ended her life, Athina is more solidly their mama for the long haul. I believe it is her natural role. Athina, after all, was raised by Gaby, and just as Gaby fulfilled the maternal role for half-orphaned Athina, Athina is ready and willingly to pay it forward.

Even Cibele must have known, deep down, that there couldn't be a better stepmother for Vivianne and Fernando. Fernando, not even Doda's biological son, wanted to go live with Athina & Doda in Belgium, "to learn about football," it was said in the Brazilian media. No doubt Fernando also missed his sister, but the fact is, a boy who would rather live with his stepfather than his own mother can't be leaving behind much to envy. Cibele "agreed" to the arrangement, it has been reported, now even in the English-language press. Even in photos, one can see the emotional torture, or car wreck, that was undoubtedly Cibele's life. One could see that she was not a well woman. There was something very tormented about her image. I can't define it, but I could see there was something unwell there. So it doesn't surprise me to read now in the Daily Mail that she couldn't cope with the downswing or the lonliness that came at night after her boyfriend's suicide. She didn't have her kids' laughter to wake her out of that black hole. She probably had some so-called 'friends' who were clueless on how to help a woman battling I-can't-imagine-what-kind-of mental and/or emotional illness. She may have done what Athina's bio-mom, Christina, did -- turned to men, or food, or drugs, or alcohol only to find that those things are distractions, not cures. Who better to help the children of emotional/mental anguish than Athina, herself a child of one of the most tortured socialites of the 20th century? This touches on one of the many reasons why I admire Athina. She chooses to live from her heart, loving her husband, her kids, and her horses. She turns away from the emptiness that swallowed up Christina and Cibele. God bless you, Athina, and thank you. You are a light of the world, making those who know you feel a little bit more sunshine, and teaching the rest of us what life can look like when we let go of ego.

Athina in Zurich

2011-01-28T08:51:00.000-08:00

CSI Mercedes Benz, Zurich, Switzerland
Results: http://eventcontent.hippoonline.de/547/547zeitplanENG.htm

Friday, 28 January 2011

Hallenstadion Opening Competition against the clock over 1m35 obstacles: Athina jumped Uceline. Their rank was 16 out of 74 riders. The top 19 took some prize. Athina took 200 CHF, or "Swiss Francs." She had 0 penalties and a speed of 50.34 seconds. This competition was a qualifier for the Mercedes Jump & Drive later the same day. Athina was not a participant in it.

Saturday, 29 January 2011 (Athina's 26th birthday!)

Liebherr Prize, against clock in two phases, 1m50 jumps: Athina jumped Uceline for just the first phase. 4 penalties, speed 42.62 seconds. Rank #32/50 riders. Did not qualify for Phase 2. Doda did Phase 2 and ranked @ #18, but only the top 14 got prize money. Doda and Norson had five penalties and were just a hair faster than Athina.

Sunday, 30 January 2011

Non-participation.

Brazilian Equestrians: Olympic Equestrians of Brazil, Alvaro de Miranda Neto, Rodrigo Pessoa, Bernardo Alves, Nelson Pessoa

Athina's new Belgian home is in the Belgian press again

2011-01-28T08:37:00.000-08:00

Click to see picture and article @ Zita.be

Athina and Doda bought this house last summer, as reported in this blog, for 2.4 million euros. It is in Oud-Turnhout, which is a suburb of Antwerp. The house is situated in the residential district of Oud-Turnhout known as Lint. Athina and Doda will simply move north from their old home in Fleurus, which is near Brussels. This new location puts them a bit closer to their "AD" stables in Valkenswaard, Netherlands. Athina and Doda might want to brush up on Flemish, which is dominant in this part of Belgium, whereas the Brussels area is more French. But according to the Belgian "Standard" (Standaard) newspaper, yesterday there was a fire @ the house. Athina and Doda have not actually moved in yet, as the house is still being renovated with necessary security systems. But in any case, yesterday's fire was quickly extinguished and everything seems to be fine. Tomorrow Athina turns 26. She and Doda are now jumping in Zurich, Switzerland.

P.S. A later report from Greece dated 13 FEB 2011 (and erroneously referring to "yesterday's" fire mentions that the fire started in the kitchens and was rooted in the electrical circuiting.

Athina's 2011 Projected Equestrian Schedule

2011-01-28T08:03:00.000-08:00

*Dates and events will be changed or added for this list as they become known or corrected.

~~CSI Basel, Switzerland (13-16 January)~~
~~CSI Zurich, Switzerland (28-30 January)~~
Jumping de Bordeaux (4-6 February)
CSI Vigo, Spain (11-13 February)
The Global Champions Tour's opening event in Doha, Qatar (17-19 March)
Toscana Tour (22-27 March/29 March-3 April/5-10 April)
Jumping Antwerpen (21-24 April)
Jump Bost Tour 2 @ Fontainebleau (29 April-1 May)
The GCT Valencia (6-8 May) or Jump Bost @ Fontainebleau Tour 3 (5-8 May)
The GCT Hamburg (1-5 June) or CSI Bourg-en-Bresse (2-5 June)
GCT Cannes (9-11 June)
GCT Monte-Carlo (23-25 June)
GCT Estoril (1-2 July)
GCT Chantilly (22-24 July)
GCT Valkenswaard (12-14 August)
GCT Rio de Janeiro (2-4 September)
Jump Bost @ Barbizon Tour 4 (9-11 September)
GCT Torino, aka Turin (22-25 September)
Jump Bost @ Fontainebleau Tour 5/Finale (7-9 October)
GCT Abu Dhubi (10-12 November)
Jumping de Nantes (25-27 November)
Jumping de Paris/Salon du Cheval
The Gucci Masters

check back soon for more accurate and more complete timetable

The Last Onassis and the Half-Blood Princess

2011-01-17T12:44:00.000-08:00

As far back as 1992, they were classed together in the media. People magazine (US version) put the two girls, along with the Home Alone star Macaulay Culkin, on its cover to illustrate a feature entitled "Silver Spoons." The Grimaldi expert Michelle Green told readers about the "moppets" who are "richer than Midas," yet still had to mind their P's and Q's, "say please and finish their peas." Other Silver Spoon kids discussed in Green's feature were Prince Albert von Thurn und Taxis and his sisters, Elisabeth and Maria Theresia; Prince al-Muhtadee Billah of Brunei; Prince William and Prince Harry of Wales; and the children of King Hussein and Queen Noor of Jordan. Ever since then, the celebrity-royal-watching media has highlighted every occasional encounter between Athina and Charlotte. The two equestriannes have been generally portrayed as the ideal pair of Amazonas (a Spanish term basically meaning a young, beautiful ingenue). As friends, they would be a Dream Team. As nemeses, they would pave the way for all kinds of comparisons to their respective grandfathers, Prince Rainier and Aristotle Onassis, whose feud in the 1950s resulted in the latter gentleman's banishment from Monaco forever.

Alas... are they enemies? No. Are they friends? Maybe. Probably. Are the best friends? No, not quite. "Friendly acquaintances" probably states the case more accurately. They like each other. They amuse each other on those random occasions when they happen to cross paths in the equestrian community.

The so-called "Grimaldi expert" Zara Rivera once reported that Charlotte gave Athina the "evil eye." The occasion, said Rivera, was the 7th International Jumping de Monte Carlo in April 2001. I find this report hard to swallow. It reeks of tabloid distortion for profitable drama. By that time, the tabloid media already liked to seize every opportunity to link the "last Onassis" and the half-blood Grimaldi "princess." Also in April 2001, an Italian magazine called them the two most envied and photographed adolescents. Reporting on the Monaco jumping event, the magazine declared that they both met with great humiliations at the event. Athina's horse, Lara, refused to jump and Athina ended up soaring over a fence and landing on her backside. Charlotte rode her grey-white gelding, Tempête du Midi, onto the arena and successfully overtook the same fence, but immediately upon landing, she lost her balance and slipped from the saddle. The implication was that the amazonas were as much paired in glory as in fallacy. Drama, drama, drama!

The real result of Athina's being projected over the fence was that she tied with another rider for the 43rd, and last place, in the Eric Wauters Cup, which was a competition of 1m30 jumps. Charlotte's accident cost her a bit less, but her level was a bit lower than Athina's. While the fence might well have been the same fence in both cases, for Charlotte the fence was only 1m10 and she ended up tying with two other riders at 7th place in the Prix de la Chocolaterie de Monaco.

Athina and family, the Roussels, had VIP seats to watch the competitions. Thierry and Gaby Roussel, and their three children besides Athina sat in the table immediately above and behind the Grimaldis' row. At one point, Athina sat between Julien Vincent Brunie (director of the house of luxury Boucheron) and her French trainer Gaetan Colantuono. Nearby was the (female) head of the Clubs Habits Rouges, in which both Athina and Charlotte were members.

Athina didn't return to Monaco's equestrian event until after its relocation (from the espace Fontvieille to Port Hercule) and resurrection in June 2006. She was seven months into her marriage. But that wasn't the first merging with Charlotte since April 2001. The girls had crossed paths, chatted and smiled with each other at the Jump Bost in Fontainebleau in the first week of May 2003. One might imagine what they said to each other....

Charlotte: Salut, Athina!

Athina: Salut! Ça-va?

C: Je suis bien, et tu?

A: Comme ci, comme ça

C: Quel fait-tu?

A: Uh... you know... practice, competition...

C: (smirking knowingly) That's all?

A: (with a blush) Well...

C: It's true then! About... what is his name? Doda?

A: Yes, it's true, and he's fantastic.

C: I'm so happy for you.

A: And you? Have you met someone?

C: No, not really, haha. No one wants to date me. I come with too much baggage!

A: I doubt that. Well, I think I must be going. My trainer is waiting for me. We still have to walk the course together.

C: Oh yeah, me too. Let's keep in touch, OK.

A: D'accord. Au Revoir.

Exactly four years later, Charlotte sat at a tent-covered, front-row table overlooking Monaco's sandy new five-star jumping course. Between her and her boyfriend, Alex Dellal, sat her best friend since childhood, Juliette Maillot. Suddenly, Athina came walking up behind them, looking and smiling at Charlotte. Athina and Charlotte seemed very happy to see each other again and exchanged polite French greetings - cheek kisses. Alex and Juliette seemed to look with surprise and interest upon the exchange. Alex probably never before met the "Last Onassis," but Juliette would have likely encountered Athina at the old Fontvieille event in 2001. Juliette was a jumping rider up through about 2001, but even after that year, her brother, Augustin, competed in jumping.

It was the Global Champions Tour that reconnected the two heiresses. Before the event in the Spanish city of Valencia, they seemed to be barely acquaintances. After their successive encounters in Cannes, Monte Carlo, Estoril, Valkenswaard, Rio, Marseilles, and Villepinte, they gradually gave the world the impression that they were becoming friends -- or at least the kind of friends who keep each other on phone and E-mail contact. In Estoril, Portugal, they merged into the same social group in the VIP spectator tent. They laughed together at Doda's darling daughter, Viviane.

The International Amazonas, 1-8

2011-01-17T11:52:00.000-08:00

I borrow the word Amazona, with all the associated context, from the Spanish society/celebrity media. An Amazona, historically, was a female warrior of Scythia: Statuesque, aggressive, headstrong, and as physically strong as the male warriors! The Spanish media likes to use the term for female celebutantes and sportswomen like Athina Onassis, Charlotte Casiraghi, and Marta Ortega Perez. I am now scouring the globe for such a woman from various nations! For now, I have listed eight born-rich equestrian sportswomen. NOTE: The women on this list are both inheritors and equestrian athletes!

Greece has Athina. France and Switzerland each have a claim to her as well. Born in Paris to a French father and Greek mother, she was raised in the Swiss canton of Vaud by a Swedish stepmother. In 2006, she switched her national identity from France to Greece and aspires to join Greece's Olympic delegation. Level wise, Athina is somewhere between the amateur and the professional. She is not quite on the same par as her husband, Alvaro "Doda" Miranda, but she competes in many of the same competitions. Her average fence height at the moment is 1m45.
Monaco has Charlotte. Italy and France might also claim Charlotte. Her dad, something of a male "amazon" himself, was the World Offshore Champ and the founder of two or three companies. Charlotte grew up to a great extent in France, first in Provence and latterly in the Paris area. As an amateur jumping rider, sponsored by the Gucci Group, Charlotte's current average fence height is 1m35.
Spain has Marta -- Amateur jumping rider and Inditex heiress/executive (sort of like a more sporty version of Ivanka Trump, continuing her sporting interest and simultaneously learning the business of her father Amancio's conglomerate, Inditex, which has a controlling interest in the Zara boutique chain.) In the jumping arena, Marta is in the same class as Athina. She also is romantically involved with a professional, top-class jumper. His name is Sergio Alvarez Moya.
The USA has the mayoral daughter Georgina Bloomberg -- Dad Michael is New York City's mayor and also a billionaire thanks to his eponymous media empire.
The UK has Zara Phillips -- Formerly the World Eventing Champion and the only person ever to simultaneously hold the World and European title for Eventing.
Saudi Arabia has HRH Lama bint Turki al Saud. Her name implies that her father is Prince Turki bin Faisal al Saud. He was ambassador to both the UK and the USA. Princess Lama is an amateur jumping rider, a regular participant of the Global Champions Tour, the Toscana Tour, and other major European equestrian events. Pictures of her are hard to come by. The paparazzi are prevented from exploiting her by the many bodyguards who keep her tightly obscured from the prying eyes of peons.
Slovakia and Switzerland have a claim to Martina Hingis. The tennis ace was born in the former Czechoslovakia but, from about the age of six, she grew up with her divorced mother in Switzerland, and since retiring from professional tennis, has retired there. Today, she competes in Europe's big horse jumping competitions. I suppose Hungary has a claim as well; her father is Hungarian. Martina is a super Amazona, in my book. It can't be easy for one to be, in the teens and 20s, a champion of the most prestigious tournaments in the world (US Open, Wimbledon); then to switch, at age 29/30, to an entirely new sport! Martina trains with the Belgium-based Brazilian equitation trainer Nelson Pessoa. "Neco" Pessoa used to train Athina too; in fact, it was at Neco's equitation school in Fleurus, Belgium that Athina met her One True Love!
Russia has Ekaterina "Katia" Rybolovleva, another regular amateur of the Global Champions Tour. Like Charlotte, Athina, and Martina, she has also competed at the Audi Masters in Brussels and the Gucci Masters in Paris Nord Villepinte. Katia is one of two daughters of Dmitri Rybolovlev, who is one of the so-called "Russian Mafia." Her sister, Natalia, was 20 last year. The girls grew up in London, exiles by paternal order from Russia, where the kids of the oligarchy are commonly regarded as potential targets of rivals and ransom hunters. Dmitri is reportedly Russia's tenth richest man, though last year he might have lost some ranking, since his wife of 23 years, Elena, demanded £3.8 billion as a settlement to their divorce.

Athina and Uceline's triumph in Basel

2011-01-14T16:18:00.000-08:00

Athina is in Basel, Switzerland for the CSI 5* equestrian event. Yesterday, on her grey Uceline, she finished tenth in a competition, defeating 16 Swiss riders, and pocketing 400 CHF (Swiss Francs.) And today Doda won the Championship on the 13-year-old Hanoverian AD Ashleigh Drossel Dan. He won 28,000 CHF. See the Swiss German report: Baz Online.

Doda told the event reporter that he has been riding "Drossel Dan" only since May last year. He described the horse as intelligent, sensitive, and agile and enormous "Springvermögen." I don't know exactly how to translate that word. Branching ability? Jumping stride? At any rate, he will ride Drossel again in Zurich, where three years ago he triumphed with the chestnut mare Picolien Zeldenrust.

Charlotte Casiraghi is also in Basel to compete in the amateur classes.

Athina is a 5* Jumping Rider

2010-12-30T21:28:00.000-08:00

Well, this month Athina took a giant step on way to Olympic glory. With her husband and their three horses (each), the couple entered the CSI in A Coruña, Spain as 5* participants. This was nothing odd for Doda, but for Athina, it symbolizes a culmination of her rapid progress in the past two years.

On Day 1, the pair competed against each other and some 55-60 other riders for the Azkar trophy, which was worth 20,000 euros. The bar was set at 1.45m.

Doda and the Athina-owned stallion AD Norson triumphed in a faultless third place and added 3,000 euros to the bank. Athina and AD Uceline were also faultless in their performance, finishing in a respectable fourteenth place and bagging 80 euros. Athina also jumped the course with AD Ricardo, and despite accumulating one point for an error, still managed to finish at 21st place, far ahead of Doda and AD Tomboy's four-point 34th place.

Pedro Veniss, one of Doda's Brazilian compatriots, jumped Athina's AD Babouche in the same competition and finished in 37th place with four fault points.

The competition for the NH Hoteles trophy wasn't as glorious, but it wasn't horrible either. Athina and AD Crosshill were hit with ten fault points. Their final ranking was 25th. As for Doda, he and Lady in Blue just missed the prize ranks at tenth place. That was a pity because the 1m50-bar competition was worth 80,000 euros!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Day 2's Trofeo La Caixa (worth 20,000 euros) made up for the small disappointments of Day 1, however. Doda finished the 1m45-bar course in both second and eighth place, bagging a total of 4,600 euros. Athina and Ricardo took tenth place and 100 euros!!!! Athina and Uceline, with 8 fault points, finished 32nd in the pecking order.

Childhood, growing up Roussel

2010-10-19T16:24:00.000-07:00

Haha! The joke was on People magazine, for thinking Charlotte had an island. And even funnier, they estimated the value of Charlotte's fictional island @ $7 million. Not even close to Skorpios, which in 2010, supposedly sold for $90 million! That's more than a jet! That could buy you, like, five jets! That could buy you about three estates in the Hamptons!

Why doesn't she ever go snowboarding, or even skiing anymore? I get that she's all about riding/jumping horses, but... even her sister Sandrine has a life beyond the equestrian beat!

PICTURES OF ATHINA growing up nicely, and being cute and sweet and very cool

2010-09-27T19:51:00.000-07:00

Erik plays on the computer while the girls play some ?candyland? hehe

Thierry shows his family the slides from one of his charity trips in Africa for ACTION FOR CHILDHOOD.

NICKY (the labrador) looks so bored. :(

Athina 10th birthday!

Croissant, Papa?

Thierry & the kids review the slides from his ACTION FOR CHILDHOOD trip.

Snow fun in St. Moritz

The loveliest photo of Gaby & Christina & their kids.

Doing the tourist stuff in Athens, summer 1998

old news now but still very interesting

2010-09-18T11:31:00.000-07:00

This past week, it became known that SKORPIOS has actually been sold. It has been many years since the media has speculated about the "impending" or the allegedly impending sale of the famous island, bought by Aristotle Onassis, and on which he married the former First Lady Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy. SKORPIOS was inherited by Athina, the granddaughter and sole descendant Aristotle Onassis, upon the death of her mother, Christina, in 1988. In 2003, Athina turned 18 and assumed control of the patrimony which had been under the administration of Onassis Foundation trustees, her father, and then KPMG Fides after the Greek "greybeard" trustees and her father couldn't reconcile their differences. Athina never quite felt comfortable visiting SKORPIOS. People close to her said that she intensely disliked the attention she would inevitably attract whenever she set foot on Greek soil. She also understandably had antipathy toward the Greek associations of the island, in particular the trustees of her patrimony who never really accepted her as she is, and who have in effect denied her of what she regards as her right to be President of the Onassis Foundation. Furthermore, Athina was upset that the Greek government denied her husband Doda's application for Greek citizenship. She probably blames the considerable influence of the Onassis board members for this. In any case, she appears to have successfully freed herself from the cumbersome responsibility of maintaining an island she never felt comfortable on anyway. But it wasn't Madonna or Bill Gates or even Roman Abramovich who got the legendary Ionian paradise. It was, in fact, the Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani.

And she got a fair price for it too!!!! $190 million to be exact.

Some years ago, Athina had sold off the Onassis villa in the Athenian suburb of Glyfada too. And don't forget that Aristotle's fabulous apartment in Paris was sold, along with Christina's St. Moritz chalet. And there were the jewels, sold off in an auction at Christie's, London.

Before Athina assumed control of her inheritance, two other important properties were shed from her portfolio. These were the Olympic Tower in Manhattan (sold to the Foundation) and the Metropole Hotel in Monaco.

Athina clearly doesn't want these haunted remnants of the gilded age of her grandfather's grandeur. It remains to be seen whether or not she will continue to represent Greece in her jumping career. Or whether she will keep the Onassis name. She is apparently poised to represent Greece at the World Equestrian Games in Lexington, Kentucky later this year, and it has been reported that she intends to represent Greece at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

But she doesn't live in Greece. She makes her home in Belgium, where she recently a bought a house in a suburb of Antwerp, and divides time between her husband's native Brazil and her equestrian property in the Netherlands. Her trainer is Jean-Maurice Bonneau, a Frenchman who succeeded the great Nelson Pessoa (Doda's longtime menter and father figure) last year.

Scanned articles about Athina

2010-09-18T11:06:00.000-07:00

Interview with Alexis Mantheakis, the Greek lawyer who formerly represented Thierry Roussel

More pictures

2010-09-17T16:22:00.000-07:00

The Roussels eating breakfast @ their chalet in Sologne, France
Athina offers her pop a croissant? They usually spent Christmas in Sologne at the Roussel family's ancestral estate, Bonneville, which is near the village of Villeny.

Thierry shows the kids some photos from a charity trip he made to Africa on behalf of ACTION FOR CHILDHOOD. This is a charity that he set up.

Fun in the snow (St. Moritz, Switzerland)

The Roussel Family doing the touristy stuff in Athens....... naturally, it was a media event!

A very nice picture of Gaby and Christina and their kids! They look so sweet together. Gaby always said she liked Christina a lot because Christina was very nice to her.

In middle picture: Athina's baptism!! Is the boy in the sailor suit her cousin STAVROS?!! At least we do know the little girl also in Christina's arms is not Eugenie, because Eugenie was not born yet!

PICTURES OF ATHINA growing up nicely

2010-09-16T21:26:00.000-07:00

click ... to make it big

New home for Madame Onassis de Miranda (translation/summary)

2010-07-17T08:24:00.000-07:00

Click for Picture and Article @ De Standaard

Athina has bought a villa in the Belgian province of Antwerpen, says the Belgian De Standaard. She has bought the villa for 2.4 million euros. The newspaper estimated her total fortune at 2.5 billion euros. Media sources are forever over-and-underestimating her fortune, so I always take their estimates with a grain of salt. The paper goes on to say that Athina and Doda have purchased this villa, which is in the residential district of Lint, from project developer Hans Lauwerysen. They quoted the security guard who is stationed at the gate of the villa. He said that his is only the security guard, "to keep an eye on things," and he cannot tell anything!" Good man!!!!! The journalists from the paper questioned the immediate neighbors. They were disappointed. None of the neighbors have seen the couple. They have seen a Rolls Royce going in, but nothing else to indicate the couple. A lady who lives directly opposite to Athina's newest residence, one Sylvia Campbell, told the reporters that Athina and Doda have chosen well, that it is a blessing to live in this area, and the properties are priceless. However, said the lady, if she had as much money as Athina supposedly has, she would have bought a place nearer the water!!!! Sylvia said she will be nice to them if they are nice to her! She said she might even light a grill for the couple! She said she previously had neighbors from the oil industry, who "swam in money" with private planes and classic cars.
**** End of Translation ****

The new Onassis-Miranda home lies about midway between two places where the couple necessarily spend much time. That is, about an hour each way between Stal Tops-Valkenswaard (Netherlands) and Haras de Ligny in Fleurus, Belgium. The couple have made Belgium their home for many years. They met in 2002 when the teenaged Athina joined the jumping school of Nelson Pessoa (at Haras de Ligny) where Doda was already longtime trainee. In the years prior to their marriage (in December 2005) the couple spent much of time in Brazil. However, after the start of 2006, and their return to the European jumping circuit, they resettled semi-permanently in Belgium, where they have been raising Doda's daughter and stepson.

Athina crosses her fingers for Doda

2010-07-05T11:56:00.001-07:00

In Estoril last week, on Friday, Athina appeared a little bit on edge, and when one considers the circumstances, there is little room for wonder why. In the first competition of the day, at 10:00, Doda jumped Ashleigh Drossel Dan over 1m50 obstacles. The son of Drosselklang II, Ashleigh is Doda's newest horse, a grey gelding born in 1998 of Hanoverian stock. While Ashleigh is "new" for Doda, he is by no means inexperienced. He jumped in the 2008 Olympic Games of Beijing with Australia's Laurie Lever. And he has been good to Doda so far. He jumped her first in Cannes, where she earned him 750 euros; thence in Monte-Carlo, earning 4,000 euros. Last Friday, however, they just missed the prized Top Ten, ranking at #11 with a time of 68.79 and without faults.

At night, Doda was engaged to compete in the 5* Prova Massimo Dutti, with a "special mix" of 1m45 obstacles and one jump-off. The course was horribly tricky. At 20:15, the competition began. Dinner down and fingers crossed, Mrs Onassis de Miranda seemed to hold her breath while Doda jumped his chestnut stallion Norson over the twelve obstacles, the last of which was a water jump. Doda and Norson blazed the course in record time. No one beat their time of 39.71, and their performance was faultless. For the achievement, Doda banked 7,500 euros.

Ashleigh only improved on the next day! After jumping Norson in the Prova Mercedes Benz, of which he won 600 euros, Doda jumped Ashleigh in the Grande Premio of 1m60 obstacles. In the final jump-off, Doda & Ashleigh clocked at 63.56. They beat Irish rider Billy Twomey's time of 63.95, but Billy took 9th rank and Doda took 16th rank, because of Doda's two mistakes, which cost him a total of 8 fault points. Still, Doda was well inside the prize class, earning 3,000 euros.

All in all, it seems like the wife's crossed fingers did no harm!

The falls of Athina

2010-07-01T22:20:00.000-07:00

This year's equestrian accidents have not been new experiences for Athina. Of course, previous falls from her horse resulted in minor to non injuries. In March, Madame Onassis de Miranda broke one of her fingers, but after having X-Rays confirm that it was A-Okay, she was able to continue competing in the four-week Toscana (Gold) Tour. From Tuscany's Arezzo Equestrian Centre, Athina progressed to more events in Italy and France. For unknown reasons, she didn't participate along with her husband, Doda, at the Global Champions Tour's debut event in Valencia, Spain. However, in the following week, she jumped her horses Ricardo, Vivi, and Tomboy in Bourg-en-Bresse, France. A fall from Ricardo resulted in her worst injury to date! It made her fall in Monaco nine years ago (from the bay mare Lara) look like fun! That occurrence had Athina limping off the course with the aid of two people. It hurt, badly, but at least the her teenaged bones were intact. This last incident landed her in the OR at a hospital in London for major surgery to set her shoulder bone! Consequently, she is to wear a shoulder cast and a sling for the next 2 months, at minimum.

Athina has had other injuries besides those related to the equestrian sport. In 2008, she slipped in the bathtub, reported Pure People, and wore a bandage on her left knee and had to get around on crutches during the Toscana Tour that year.

Athina, ever the injured girl

2010-07-01T17:09:00.000-07:00

In Monte-Carlo last week, the photos of Athina, with her shoulder cast, looking resentfully at the camera, reminded me of the injured, naive little Swiss Miss Roussel, who said if only she could burn the money, her problems would go vamoose. She had the same look in her eyes, that look that says: "I hate you. Why do you pursue my image? Why do you blot my life?" As I don't live in her shoes, I can't judge and I can't understand, but I have to wonder how much the paparazzi do indeed 'blot' her life. The only time we see photos of her are when she has appeared at another equestrian event. We never see photos of her around her home, or even at the AD stables in Valkenswaard. When she was living more in Brazil -- I suppose because the Brazilian paps have more license? -- sometimes we had images of her at the hospital or the airport or leaving the Hotel Unique, where she and Doda lived before their Ibirapuera Park penthouse was habitable. In Sao Paulo and Rio, and even in Argentina and Uruguay, where the couple liked to go to relax, there were sometimes photos. But since their return to the European equine circuit, their private life has been what it should be, that is to say, completely invisible. I can only conclude that Athina simply hates the media, and can hardly tolerate it to any degree or on any terms. Her mother hated it too, but she tangoed with it because she liked the social scene. As for her father, Thierry Roussel, he seems like the type of person who would do a reality show at the drop of a hat, if you paid him enough money! But Athina won't do it. When she needs to make a statement, she has someone speak for her. Usually, if it relates to her eponymous jumping tournament in Rio de Janeiro, her spokesperson is her husband. If it's a denial of some kind, such as when she denied that she sold or was planning to sell Skorpios, it's done through the Greek Consulate of Sao Paulo.

Her famous friends (well, famous in the horsey world) all use social networking sites like Facebook that are a big no-go for Athina. Athina stays clear of such sites. You won't find Athina on Twitter or Bebo, at least not under her real name. Doda has more than 1,000 "friends" on Facebook. The Athina Onassis International Horse Show (AOIHS) has an official page on Facebook, however. There you can get evet news and updates, even pictures, courtesy of the press agent of the Global Champions Tour. But no Athina the person. Of course, it's easy enough to understand why Athina stays clear the social networking hoopla. As quickly as word spreads nowadays, if she got on Facebook and added her high-profile horsey friends, it wouldn't be any time before the wrong kind of people figured it out. In fact, her famous life insurance policy at Lloyds of London might even forbid that kind of exposure, as it might be argued that it would make her a target.

I wonder if Athina sometimes feels she's living in an Ivory Tower. Her dearest friends go up to visit her in the Ivory Tower, where she lives safely and cozily with her husband and kids. The Ivory Tower can move and even travel across Europe, and she can appear at the windows -- hence, the occasional photos of her. But there is a protective substance around her. She can't step outside it. The bodyguards keep it intact. She can socialize with her friends and well-heeled acquaintances. Only a certain calibre of person can afford to penetrate her orbit. She's not allowed to go into a place like McDonald's. If she wants a burger and fries, someone goes to get it for her. I've never seen her eat a burger, as a matter of fact. Pizza, yes, oh yes... and ice cream! And green olives. Her Ivory Tower must have a stock of green olives.

Athina in shoulder sling

2010-06-16T09:53:00.001-07:00

Showing it was the right shoulder that was hurt in her horrific fall off Ricardo a fortnight ago (see previous entries, or June 13 & 14) Athina didn't look very happy in the VIP enclosure at the Global Champions Tour-Cannes event last Saturday. Then again, she was probably doped up on anti-pain medication. She won't be able to ride for at least three months and might lose the chance she hoped for to participate in the World Equestrian Games later this year.

Athina has been on the go in 2010

2010-06-14T10:56:00.000-07:00

Athina's birthday this year, 29 January, on which she turned 25, fell on the first day of the International Jumping de Nantes. She happened to bag 175 euros for her 5th place result in the Prix Haras de Granlieu; with Welcome du Petit Vivier, aka "Vivi," she scaled the 1m40 jumps without faults and clocked at 69.55. Earlier, she had won 60 euros of the Prix SHNA (1m35) for her 9th place on the grey mare Uceline. The husband, Alvaro aka "Doda," jumped the 1m50 obstacles and bagged 1200 euros for his 6th place result on the grey warmblood Untouchable. On the next day, Athina stepped up her game and jumped Vivi over the 1m50 obstacles, finishing with a time of 67.18, four fault points, and bagging 400 euros for her 16th place. On the last day, 31 January, she mounted Uceline for a competition of 1m45 jumps. They finished in 15th place, but the cut off for prize money was 12th place. Nevertheless, it was in good time (68.69) without fault points. For the Prix Fonroche, Athina got back on Vivi and jumped over more 1m45 jumps in two phases. In the first phase, they took 8 fault points, but still finished respectably at 20th place out of a total of 51 places. For the final and Grand Prize event, over 1m50 jumps, husband and wife participated respectively on Ricardo 500 and Untouchable. Ricardo is one of the best matches for Athina; in general, the two work exceptionally well together. However, in this instance, they were hit with 5 fault points. Their time was 84.12 and their rank was 20th place out of 37 places. Doda and Untouchable finished in the last place because they were hit with 22 fault points and the slowest time, 104.39.

Interestingly, A & D started the Nantes event on her birthday. Their next event in Bordeaux kicked off on Doda's birthday. He turned 37 on Friday, 5 February. Athina & Uceline did a combination of 1m35 and 1m40 jumps in the speed test for the FLH International prize, which was exclusively for ladies. With a time of 53.77 and zero faults, they were 6th out of 18 places. Doda, riding Norson, just missed the prize cutoff in the Land Rover event. Doda didn't have any prize money on his birthday; he also just missed the cutoff for the Prix Generali (1m50) with his redheaded mare, Picolien. On Saturday, Athina & Uceline did Round 2 of the ladies' FLH prize and achieved 5th place.

Sunday in Bordeaux was much like Saturday for Athina and Uceline. They took 5th place again in Round 3 of the ladies' Prix FLH. Doda's persistence paid off and he won third place in the final, with Picolien. His reward was 14,750 euros and, no doubt, a kiss from his wife.

The next stop for A & D was Vigo, Spain. They were photographed arriving at the airport on a private plane. The show started on 12 February with an opening performance by Lorenzo, the famous "Flying Frenchman" whose choreographed routine is an astonishing display of his perfect symmetry with horses. The last day of the event fell on Valentine's Day. Athina's time in Vigo was reported in this blog at the time of its occurrence, but here is a brief recap. On the first day, she made an unsuccessful run at the 1m45 jumps for the Premio Coren. While she and Vivi were eliminated, Doda and Picasso finished 6th place and Doda scooped up 650 euros. Doda & Athina each made a run at the Telefonica competition, which was a World Cup qualifier. With Picolien Zeldenrust, Doda ranked 18th place with his time of 66.24 and 8 penalty points. Athina and Ricardo ranked 27/33 places; their time was 77.63, which would have gotten them a higher rank if they had not been slammed with 12 penalty points. The next day, A & D competed in a speed test over 1m50 jumps for the prize money of Coca-Cola, and met with considerably more success. Doda, on Untouchable, got 600 euros for his 8th place result. Athina, on Ricardo, was 13th out of 33. Doda rode Picolien in the day's World Cup qualifier, a 1m60 competition in which he bagged 1000 euros for his placement at 15/32. Finally, on the day of Saint Val, Doda ranked 13th out of 20 places with the 13-year-old gelding Picasso. But it was Athina who, between the two, got the glory in the final! Riding Ricardo, she scooped up 10th place and 2126 euros. They were hit by a single penalty point. Doda and Picolien ranked not far behind at 13th place in the pool of 26 places.

A & D spent three weeks competing in Villeneuve Loubet, in the south of France. Charlotte Casiraghi drove up from Monaco to participate in the action. The whole event was over a period of three weeks, from the last week of February through 14 March. Athina and Doda competed at the highest level, jumping over 1m40 and higher fences. Casiraghi joined the fun in the second week, mostly competing on fences from 1m15-30, but once or twice going as high as 1m35-40 in the third and final week.

The Toscana Tour began on the 17th of March and was spread out over four weeks, finally ending on 11 April. The 3* Toscana Tour takes place annually at Tuscany's fabulous Arezzo Equestrian Centre. Riders participate in three levels: Bronze, Silver, and Gold. Doda, of course, enrolled in the Gold Tour from the first week. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays, he also jumped his 7-year-old horse, P. Wilbert Z, over the 1m30 obstacles for the 7-year-old horses. The upper-level (Bronze, Silver, Gold) competitions ran from the Thursdays through Sundays. Athina didn't compete at all in the first of the four weeks. In fact, she did not compete until Friday of the second week, when she joined her husband in the Gold ranks. This was due to a broken finger, which remained in a cast throughout the Tour. In the Gold Tour's Class 49, she tied at 7th place with Italian rider Lucia Vizzini. Lucia and Athina, who rode Vivi, each clocked at 67.12, without penalties, and pocketed 75 euros. She also rode Ricardo and Tomboy. On Saturday, again with Vivi, she got 5th place and 280 euros in the Class 59. That competition involved 1m40 jumps and Athina actually had a slower time than some of the other riders who ranked below her. Her zero penalties bumped her up ahead of several faster riders. The rest of A & D's Toscana Tour results can be seen here.

Athina stayed in Italy throughout March and April to compete in San Giovanni in Marignano and Modena. Doda traveled to Belgium to participate in the Jumping Antwerpen. The couple reunited in Valencia for the inauguration of the Global Champions Tour, which Athina engaged in as a mere spectator. Chatting with Jan Tops, Edwina Alexander, and Charlotte Casiraghi in the VIP enclosures, she gave off a brilliant glow of radiance that led some to suspect she might be pregnant. However, pregnancy no longer seems likely at the moment. Athough she continued her abstinence from the sport at the GCT's second phase in Torino, she was back in the saddle for the CSI4* Bourg-en-Bresse in the first weekend of June. It was there that she broke her shoulder bone and had to have a serious operation in London to repair it. The fall off Ricardo was excruciatingly painful, as the pictures of the heiress on the ground, crying from the pain, testify. However, she was sufficiently in happy form at the GCT Cannes to watch Doda in action. Doda had two exhilarating victories in Torino (Turin) and Cannes. In the former, he won the Premio Publitalia with brilliant Norson, clocking the fastest time of 62.52 (it was a speed test) and scooping up 6600 euros. Then on the final day in Cannes, he and Norson won the Prix Nice Matin, again having the fastest time of 53.71. Doda is lagging far behind his peers in total GCT points, having skipped the Hamburg event and not taken any points for Valencia. However, his action in the last two events earned him a total of 14 points toward the ultimate event in Rio de Janeiro.

Athina's recovery will last for several months, during which she cannot participate in the sport. This event puts a dent in her hopes to compete in the upcoming World Equestrian Games, but there is a small chance she might pull it off, as the Games are set to begin in Lexington, Kentucky at the end of September. Whether she competes or not, she will surely be there to support Doda!

Nantes
Bordeaux
Vigo
Villeneuve Loubet
Toscana Tour
San Giovanni in Marignano
Modena
Valencia (non-participant)
Turino (non-participant)
Bourg-en-Bresse
Cannes (non-participant)

Athina is out of the saddle for three months, minimum

2010-06-13T23:01:00.000-07:00

According to a Dutch equestrian site, Athina took a nasty fall from her horse on Friday, 4 June. She was competing over 1m45 jumps in the CSI4* Bourg-en-Bresse, France when she fell off Ricardo 500 and broke a bone in her shoulder. Two days later she underwent an operation in London. She is said to be in good form, but the recovery will take a minimum of three months. She is effectively out of the running for the Global Champions Tour. She turned out in Cannes, however, last weekend in order to support her husband. Doda and his horse Norson won the Nice-Matin Prize on the last day of the event, which was Saturday, 12 June. Watching with Athina in the riders' enclosure, stepdaughter Viviane and the little girl's brother, Fernando, ate pizza. Athina also reunited with her fellow cavalier, Charlotte Casiraghi, who had two 5th place results on Friday. There is a lot of buzz about Athina's possible chance at the World Equestrian Games in Kentucky in October. The Italian site Equitando speculated that, due to the injury and recovery period, Athina's chances of participation at the World Games are now much reduced. As Equitando went on to say, it comes at an unfortunate time, considering Athina's very late purchase of Ashleigh Drossel Dan, the Olympian horse she hoped would be her partner in Lexington, Kentucky, where the Games are due to take place from 25 September through 10 October. Ashleigh Drossel Dan was purchased from the Australian rider Laurie Lever, with whom the horse competed in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. In Bourg-en-Bresse, France, where the accident occurred, Athina's partners included Ricardo (from whom she fell); Ashleigh Drossel Dan; and Tomboy, a champion horse she purchased last year from the VDL Groep. This year, Athina already had one injury prior to what happened in Bourg. In the first week of the Toscana Tour in March, she fractured her finger, but was able to continue competing through the remaining weeks of the Tour, albeit with a cast on the finger.

Athina brings home a new champion

2010-06-06T22:03:00.000-07:00

Last year, she bought Tomboy from VDL Groep. Now she has bought Ashleigh Drossel Dan, gelding son of the stallion Drosselklang II. The Hanoverian grey horse was at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. Since 2004, he's jumped many grand-prix-level fences with the Aussie rider Laurie Lever. Athina is said to be aiming to ride Ash all the way through the World Equestrian Games later this year (in Kentucky) to the Olympics of 2012. If Athina qualifies for the London Olympics, she will represent Greece.

Patroness Athina meets the Global Champions in Valencia

2010-05-09T11:21:00.001-07:00

She arrived in Valencia by private plane on Thursday. She and husband Doda, and other GCT people checked in at the five-star Westin Hotel. Doda was there as a participant, Athina only to support him and indeed to fulfill her role as the tour's Official Patroness. Athina has done plenty of competing to date. In fact, she has been competing or practicing in the company of her trainer, Jean-Maurice Bonneau, almost every week since the start of the year -- from Nantes, to Bordeaux in France, down to Vigo, Spain and across the French Riviera (CSI of Villeneuve Loubet, three weeks) into Italy for the four-week Toscana Tour and two 3* CSI's, all this with a finger injury in the first week of the Toscana Tour! So this weekend has been a deserved time of relaxation and fun for the heiress. On Friday, she joined her friend, Australian champion rider Edwina Alexander, to watch the competitions in the common zone. With a (probably freebie) Gucci bag on her shoulder, she almost blended into the scenery. Certainly, she can afford the bag, but given the high level of media interest in the event, especially in Spain, and that fellow rider Charlotte Casiraghi was there in head-to-toe Gucci, it is probable that the bag was a gift from the upscale fashion house. Athina, who doesn't usually succumb to pretentious fashions, seemed a little self-conscious about the bag, but nevertheless grinned and bore it with a pretty attitude. When it was time for lunch, Athina made her first appearance in the riders' enclosure and prepared a plate of fruit as well as a salad -- with a desert, ice cream cone!! While she ate, she sat next to her friend and business associate, Jan Tops, who is a renowned horse breeder/owner/trainer with his base at Valkenswaard, Netherlands. Tops is also the founder of the Global Champions Tour. Charlotte Casiraghi sat across the table from Athina. Athina enjoyed a dinner alone with her husband, who had a great day Friday. With his horse Untouchable, he achieved third place for the Trofeo NH Hoteles. His prize for this was 3,000 euros, ample money to pay for a nice dinner and champagne!! Not that either husband or wife had been strapped for cash!!!

Saturday, Athina wore a leafy print, sleeveless blouse and dark blue jeans. There was more time to chat with the young glamourina from Monaco. They may not have always been close friends, but they have always liked one another. Despite the tendency of the media to portray them as rival "amazonas" it seems to me that when they chat to each other, the smiles are nothing short of sincere. They seem to understand each other, as well as to have an understanding. They understand each the other's prime annoyance: the press!!!! "I won't betray you because I know what it's like," seems to be the understanding. The Oxer Award gala took place on Saturday night. Athina pulled her blonde-streaked (naturally brown) hair off her face and wore a simple, but elegant necklace and earrings with a V-neck blouse. Doda also looked sharp in a grey-metallic suit with a pale greyish blue tie.

Athina in Valencia as tour patroness and wife but not to compete

2010-05-07T22:35:00.000-07:00

Athina was virtually incognito yesterday as she watched the competitions on the converted arena (the "lake") of the Museo Principe Felipe in Valencia. She actually sat in the common spectators' zone, where she chatted with her friend, the Aussie champion Edwina Alexander, who is 7th-ranked jumping rider in the world. No one bothered the pair.

While the Gucci-clad Charlotte Casiraghi of Monaco spent the better part of the morning in the VIP/riders' enclosure, Athina didn't make her appearance there until lunchtime. She walked in and prepared herself a salad from the buffet. Always a woman of simple tastes, Athina wore a bright blue-green reversible, zippered sweatshirt. Her long blonde-highlighted hair was pulled away from her face in her customary ponytail.

The young woman sometimes known as "The Last Onassis" (because of her being the sole living descendant of the "Golden Greek" Aristotle Onassis) has come to Valencia to show support both for the inauguration of this year's Global Champions Tour, of which she is the official patroness, and of course for her husband, the three-time Olympic Brazilian rider Alvaro "Doda" de Miranda. After the competition of the Trofeo NH Hoteles, in which Doda achieved third place with Untouchable, Athina left with him to have dinner.

They had arrived in town on Thursday -- as did Charlotte Casiraghi. Both Athina & Charlotte, in fact, arrived in same way -- by private plane -- and settled in the same hotel -- the Westin. They also came with their bodyguards. [The article also mentions Athina's trainer, Jean Maurice Bonneau, who they say is almost constantly with Athina. The article names Charlotte's trainer as Philippe Rozier, which is a mistake, as her trainer is actually Philippe's brother, Thierry Rozier.]

[Other heirs/royals/nobles mentioned in the article: Cayetano Martinez de Iruju, the son of the Duchess of Alba. The article pointed out that Cayetano, while opening the Global Champions Tour yesterday, was annoyed by the Spanish press asking him a couple of questions that related to the Duchess rather than the GCT or his own equestrian career. Cayetano is among the best jumping riders from Spain. The article also mentioned Marta Ortega Perez, who works for her father Amancio Ortega's company, Inditex, the conglomerate that owns the Zara fashion chain, and Massimo Dutti, and a lot more! It mentioned that Marta competes on the modest level of 2* unlike her boyfriend, Sergio Alvarez Moya, who is in league with Cayetano. The article named the Princess Lama bin Turki al Saud, but didn't give information because none is available about the very protected Saudi princess. There was a bit more to say about Vanessa von Zitzewitz, the German-Polish photographer who is a cousin of Prince Serge of Yugoslavia, and since the beginning of the year, the girlfriend of Juan Villalonga, the former Chairman of Telefonica who now runs Telnic, the "Google Phonebook."]

Source: Levante EMV, 8 May 2010
Most of this blog entry is a roughly summarized translation of the Levante article, at least the parts that relate to Athina. Very little of this entry is directly translated from the article, which is in Spanish. Rather, I have chosen to make a summary of the article's bullet points about Athina.

Athina in Italy

2010-04-22T18:46:00.001-07:00

While Iceland's volcanic ash grounded commercial flights across europe, even the queen of the modern-jet-set, Charlotte Casiraghi, waited for hours in a train station in Rome in order to get home to Paris -- or London via Paris. Charlotte and her boyfriend, the art patron and gallery owner Alex Dellal, had been visiting her brother Pierre. I wonder if they knew about the equestrian event in Pioletto. While the couple stood in the crowded station, their legs and backs becoming stiff, and tried to ignore the paparazzi, they might have been relaxing at the Club Ippico l'Elefantino. OK, maybe it wasn't a practical alternative. After all, it's a five- hour drive from Rome to the Milanese outskirts where the club is located. And if Charlotte had turned up at the Elefantino equestrian club to watch the likes of her casual buddy Athina Onassis de Miranda jump the fences, well... the paps would have followed her from Rome, probably, and the pictures of the two island-owning heiresses would have made the train-station photos bought by Zimbio seem cheap. Still, it may have been a fun and scenic excursion.

Indeed, while travelers in Europe were waiting in airports or rushing into train stations, wondering when they would get to their destinations, Athina was riding her horse Babouche and jumping the 1m35 fences. Of course, she also had her lucky charm, Welcome du Petit Vivier, and her champion, Tomboy, in the arena. Athina went to Pioltello (locale of the Elefantino Club) after spending the three weeks, from 17 March through 11 April, in the Toscana Tour at Arezzo.

This week Athina is competing in the City of Modena, about two hours SE from Milan. Next week she will go further south to the beautiful coastal San Giovanni in Marignano. And the week after that Athina and Doda will fly over to Valencia, Spain to inaugurate the 2010 Global Champions Tour!

Athina's Winning Speed is killed by 8 Penalties

2010-04-10T09:50:00.000-07:00

We should remember that she's operating with an injured finger in the fourth and last weekend of the Toscana Tour. Nevertheless, Madame Onassis de Miranda has been going strong in the Gold Tour events, jumping over the 1m35-60 fences with her horses: Welcome du Petit Vivier, Ricardo 500, Babouche, and Uceline. Welcome and Ricardo are her wild cards. Respectively 11 and 12-year-old bay warmbloods, they are fast and powerful and capable of scaling the higher fences. The grey Uceline is nine and, therefore, still jumping the 1m35 fences. But Uceline seems to have a great relationship with Athina. That is to say, their results together have been consistently good. Babouche, a 10-year-old chestnut, has been a bit more difficult.

Athina mounted Babouche for Phase 1 of the morning's Gold Tour #139. The jumps were 1m35. They made a mistake on the course, probably a refusal or "knockdown" -- that is to say, Babouche (maybe) either refused a jump or knocked over an obstacle. Their final time was 55:05 seconds. So they were #29/68 competitors. It wasn't bad, but Uceline did even better in Phase 2. Uceline did the course in 37:38 seconds without penalties. At #17, Athina and Uceline were the last of the placed riders, receiving the minimum prize of 30 euros. The total jackpot was 3210 euros, of which Norbert Schuman of Romania took the bulk.

Competition #140 was also a 2-phase competition for the prize named for Antonio Carraro. The results would also be counted for the FEI's Rolex Rankings. The bars were raised to 1m40 and the athletes jumped against the clock. In Round 1, Madame Onassis and Welcome finished the jumps in record time -- 83:74 seconds. They beat even Doda and his horse, Picasso, who went immediately before them and clocked at 84:40. The problem was that Athina & Welcome accumulated 8 penalty points, which drove their placement way down in the Nowhere Land. All Fair in Love and War. Doda and Picasso took 8 penalties in the "jump off" round, which Athina didn't qualify for. It's not the worst. Another rider took as many as 26 penalties. When athletes go for speed, shit happens, right? Doda and Picasso went from 2nd to 17th place and Doda scooped up 200 euros of the prize. The jackpot total was 22,000 euros and Italy's Claudio Minardi took the bulk of 6600. Athina went from 55th to 58th place.

Tomorrow is the Final Day of the four-week-long Toscana Tour. It's the "Best of Toscana Tour" day, with three events for the three Tours: Bronze, Silver, and Gold. The Gold Grand Prix (rather, in Italian, Gran Premio) is sponsored by Coca-Cola. It counts for FEI Rolex Rankings and the jumps will be 1m60. Like today's Antonio Carrara Prize, the competition will be against the clock with a jump-off round. Athina was put out of the running today, but Doda will go into the Gran Premio with the horse known as Untouchable.

The Rich Get Richer!

2010-04-09T08:20:00.000-07:00

What amount do you imagine on Athina's banking statement? Go ahead. Think of a figure. You can't be any wilder than the dozens of media reports that have tried to estimate her personal assets. Athina's inheritance from her mother, Christina Onassis, has been wildly estimated from $600 million to roughly $5 billion. That's because there is widespread confusion over the difference between "Athina Onassis" (person, single entity) and the Onassis Foundation (business and charitable enterprise, of which Athina the Person has no stake). Anyway, what number did you settle on? How many zeros? In my opinion, as long as you're in the hundred millions, you're in the ballpark. Or at least, in the city of the ballpark. But whatever figure you like, you can add something to it. That something is a certainty. Yes, Athina got richer today. You bet she did. So go ahead. Write that figure you like on a sheet of paper, and add... 100 euros!

That's right. Athina had earned a whopping total of 100 euros today in equestrian prize money. Actually, tack on another 40. Exactly one week ago, she earned 40 euros. And don't forget the pocket change her husband has been accumulating since the start of this year's Toscana Tour. Why, just one week ago, on Friday, Doda won 1320 euros. He bagged another 1320 on Wednesday for his victory with seven-year-old Wilbert. The day before, Doda & Wilbert landed third place and 225 euros.

Who said Athina never "worked" a day in her life? Who said Athina never earned any of her money?

They are wrong.

Athina: Facts & Figures

2010-04-08T04:54:00.000-07:00

Birth: 29 January 1985, American Hospital of Paris
Mother: Christina Onassis (1951-1988)
Father: Thierry François Roussel *1953
Nationality: Dual citizenship French and Greek
Stepmother: Swedish Marianne "Gaby" Landhage
Siblings:

Erik Christophe Roussel *July 1985
Sandrine Roussel *May 1987
Johanna Roussel *July 1991

Grandparents: Aristotle Onassis (died 1906-1975); Athina Livanos (1929-1974); Henri Roussel (died 1996); Francine Grinda (1930-1987)
Provenance: Lussy-sur-Morges, Vaud, Switzerland (near Lausanne) & the Rhônes-Alpes region of France (the Roussels' "Bonneville" estate in Villeny)
Childhood stomping grounds: Saint Moritz for skiing; Gaby's hometown in Sweden; Porroig on the Balearic isle of Ibiza; her own Skorpios
Education: State school system in the Swiss canton of Vaud and, from 2002-2004, Nelson Pessoa's Haras de Ligny equestrian school outside Fleurus, Belgium
Official roles: Patroness of the Global Champions Tour; patroness of her eponymous horse show in Brazil; the "A" in AD Sport Horses
Equestrian trainers: Laurant Macaire, Pierre Badoux, Nelson Pessoa, Jean-Maurice Bonneau
Equestrian gal pals: Edwina Alexander, Alexa Weeks Pessoa, Susana García-Cereceda, Marta Ortega Perez, Charlotte Casiraghi, and of course Sister Sandy
Other girlfriends: Daniela Zurita, sister-in-law Anna Luiza Miranda
Marriage: 3 December 2005, Alvaro "Doda" de Miranda
Honeymoon: Reportedly Thailand (her second visit with Doda)
Children: None so far besides Doda's munchkin, Viviane, who is now about ten years old
Current residences: Penthouse overlooking Ibirapuera Park in São Paulo, Brazil; Fleurus, Belgium; Valkenswaard, The Netherlands
Vacation: Punta del Este resort in Uruguay
Clothing brands: Kingsland and Pikeur riding and leisure clothes, Nike shoes
Projected 2010 equestrian tour:

Nantes, France
Bordeaux, France
Vigo, Spain
Arezzo, Tuscany, Italy (Toscana Tour)
Modena, Italy: 23-25 April
San Giovanni di Marignano, Italy
Valencia, Spain: 5-9 May (attended, but did not compete)
Cannes, France: 10-12 June
Monte-Carlo, Monaco: 24-26 June
Estoril, Portugal: 1-3 July
~~Chantilly, France: 23-25 July~~
~~Valkenswaard, Netherlands: 13-15 August~~
~~Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: 26-29 August~~
Horses Riviera Resort in San Giovanni in Marignano, Italy
~~CSI Brussels/Audi Masters (November)~~
Jumping de Marseille, France
~~Gucci Masters @ Paris Nord Villepinte, France (3-5December)~~
Casas Novas in Spain (Xmas week)

Athina's equestrian show checklist

2010-04-06T07:49:00.001-07:00

GPA Titium Pro riding helmet
Roeckl riding gloves
Kingsland "show socks"
Breeches from Pikeur
Competition shirt from Pikeur
Competition jacket by GPA
Riding boots from Sergio Grasso
Leisure jackets & sweatshirts from Kingsland
Pair of Nike shoes

Some things a girl's gotta have - a good sturdy pair of all-weather boots

2010-04-05T09:27:00.001-07:00

With her broken finger (was broken about 2 weeks ago but it's minor enough that she's been able to compete in the Toscana Tour jumping) Athina was able to catch up on magazine reading, have lunch with a pal and watch the other riders on Saturday, April 3rd. She did some competing herself, but her two events were spread apart by several hours. Meanwhile, she was prepared for the mud, apparently. Those boots, from fashionable Burberry, probably cost about $200. They have great traction for all terrains and will hold up for several years. They might even be several years old already. Athina is already known to be a keen Burberry shopper. She's got the scarves. Like Hermes and Gucci, the brand of Burberry is very equestrian. They have gorgeous riding boots too, which Athina would definitely appreciate.

Athina has the Golden Ticket

2010-04-04T13:49:00.000-07:00

In Italy's Toscana Tour -- four weeks of jumping competitions at the Equestrian Center of Arezzo, Tuscany -- there are the Bronze Tour riders, the Silver Tour riders, and the Gold Tour riders. Obviously, the Gold Tour riders take the highest jumps, qualifying for the the biggest prizes and competing for points in the World Equestrian Games, this year to take place in Lexington, Kentucky. This year is Athina Onassis de Miranda's first time doing the Gold Tour. This year has also been occasion for her first time competing against her husband, Alvaro aka Doda.

What is new in her training? Well, for starters, since the latter months of last year, she and Doda have been training with Jean-Maurice Bonneau, a French chef d'equipe. It's not that their previous, and longtime, trainer, Nelson Pessoa, was bad. Good lord, no. But sometimes a person can be stuck and the only way to be un-stuck is to change the tune. So Bonneau might have a completely fresh approach and different ideas.

It strikes me how well Athina seems to work with Welcome & Ricardo. Her newest horse, Tomboy, is a helleva great horse, but relationships take time and lots of patience.

In Arezzo, on Friday, April 2nd, Athina participated in Classes 86 and 87 of the Gold Tour. At 9:30 in the morning she mounted Welcome du Petit Vivier for jumping over 1m40 (or 1.40 m) fences. Doda mounted his 13-year-old stallion named Picasso for the same event. Husband and wife had cause to celebrate mutual success. Doda and Picasso finished in 26 min., 18 sec without penalties. Athina & Welcome, who is an 11-year-old gelding, ended up with a time of 30:66 without penalties. None of the 80 riders beat Doda's time, so he won the top prize of 1320 euros. Athina scored 20th place, just a notch above last place for the cutoff. Only the Top 21 were considered "placed competitors." Athina won 40 euros.

Class 87 involved 1m45 jumps and began at 1630 (4:30 PM). Doda rode his 9-year-old chestnut stallion Norson and again won with his time of 70:79 and without penalties. Athina rode Ricardo 500 and placed far below the qualifying cutoff at #42. She had faults, two, and thus her 4 points, since every fault = 2 points. Her time was 83:37.

The next day, Saturday APRIL 3rd, Athina participated in the Gold Tour's Class 96 of 1m45 jumps. The best 30 riders from Friday's Class 87, excluding the Top 20 who already qualified, were set to compete in this one. Doda, as winner of Class 86 & 87, sat this one out. But Athina had ranked #42 so she fell within the range for Class 96 on Saturday. She jumped on Ricardo. They were in the non-placed ranks at #48 with a time of 56:42 and 4 points for their 2 mistakes. So they didn't go on to the next phase that day.

But Sunday.... at 0815 84 riders participated in the Gold's class 104 of 1m40 jumps. Doda & Picasso earned a very fast time of 71:59. In terms of speed, they were faster than the pair who finished at 17th place, but because of 2 mistakes (four penalties) they placed at #30 instead. Athina & Welcome made 2.5 mistakes and had a time of 77:56. They placed at #50. The Polish rider who finished at 22nd place (the last qualified place) was just a hair slower than Athina, but only took 1 penalty, and a good many others had slower times but better performance/placement than Athina.

Class 105 was the Grand Prix at 1630. Athina and Ricardo jumped over 1m50 fences and acquired 13 penalties in the course, with a final time of 88:25. Doda rode Norson and actually placed right below Athina's #40. Doda took one more penalty than Athina and was clocked at 93:70. The top 15 riders qualify for the best of Toscana Tour Gold Tour/Class 144 next weekend.

See all results from Toscana Tour 2010 Week Three

Athina Onassis de Miranda's pooch

2010-03-26T07:12:00.001-07:00

Zimbio.com put these photographs of Athina "running errands" during Week 1 of the Toscana Tour. With a broken finger at the Arezzo Equestrian Center, Athina decided to tool around with her poodle, buy a new pair of shoes, and eat some lunch. Zimbio reported that she went into a restaurant with her little buddy despite its no-dog policy. One of the photos showed her exiting the restaurant through doors clearly marked with the venue's policy. Athina obviously lives by her own rules!!

The Site URL for the Zimbio pictures:
http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/-zR8itjIfJo/Athina+Onassis+Runs+Errands/NnNDrzh9hc_/Athina+Onassis

Athina has joined the Toscana Tour 2010

2010-03-23T18:28:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, 17 March

Athina and Doda arrived with their horses at Tuscany's Arrezo Equestrian Center. An Arabic princess, Lama bin Turki al Saud, also arrived to compete in the three-week Toscana Tour. Other personages who filled the stables with their horses included Alessia Crespo, whose husband, Hernan, is an Argentine soccer player and horse breeder. Hernan Jorge de Crespo actually bought two of Athina & Doda's horses last year. He bought Chatwin and Ornella, two horses that were entangled with Doda in very scary jumping accidents. Chatwin injured his leg at the Global Champions Tour's Monte Carlo event in July 2008, and Doda injured his back in the next week while competing on Ornella. Dothorse.it reported that the veteran footballer Salvatore Bagni and Beatrice Patrese, the daughter of F1 racing driver Riccardo Patrese, will be competing in the Tour.

The Toscana Tour has welcomed Athina and Doda before. The couple have participated in the Arezzo event for four consecutive years.

Gianni Govoni was the Grand Prix winner of Week 1.

Monday, 23 March

WEEK 2

Athina has broken one of her fingers and won't be able to compete until (maybe) the end of the week after radiological treatments. But, according to Arezzoweb.it, Athina and Doda are still going to enjoy the evening entertainments at the Arezzo equestrian center. At 1930 (7pm) on Thursday, there will be a Brazilian-theme party in the VIP bar of the exclusive Riders' Club.

Athina and the Olympics

2010-03-19T18:34:00.000-07:00

Ten years ago when the international celebrity media claimed that Athina was gearing up for the Olympic Games, it was based on fantasy rather than reality. The fact is, they hoped for the incredible story that would materialize if Athina reclaimed her Onassis heritage and represented Greece in Athens at the 2004 Summer Games. When that didn't happen, and the media had to settle for Athina's attendance to watch her boyfriend compete for Brazil, a glimmer of hope remained that she might be ready for 2008. Unfortunately, she wasn't, but she did seem to be on the right course. She was, after all, jumping fences up to 1m45. She had, since marrying Doda at the end of 2005, joined the Greek training team Avlona, shed the Roussel name, and refashioned herself as Athina Onassis de Miranda. She was a new woman - slimmer, blonder, and, seemingly, blissfully in love. She was not only a serious contender for Grand Prix level jumping; she was a major player in the sport horse breeding business. She bought world champion horses that cost several million dollars. She socialized with equestrian 'it' people like Jan Tops, the Pessoas, and Edwina Alexander. Through the course of 2009, she mastered relationships with her top-three partners: Uceline, Ricardo, and Welcome. Welcome was obviously a winning ticket from the word go, and Uceline, the youngest, was promising on the 1m25-35 jumps. Ricardo entered the top three to replace Babouche. Born in 1998, he is a year older than Welcome and therefore is the perfect age to be doing Grand Prix level jumping. At the jumping of Nantes this year, Ricardo and Welcome took Athina over 1m50 jumps for the first time and the results were impressive! With Welcome, she ranked #16/48 for the Prix Region Pays de la Loire. Her prize was 400 euros. Despite that they knocked over two obstacles, it was a brilliant start to her Grand Prix career. The Nantes jumping overlapped onto her birthday, January 29, on which she and Welcome achieved 5th place (over 1m40 jumps) in the Prix Haras de Granlieu, adding 175 euros to her famously bulging bank account. With Ricardo, she tackled the 1m50 jumps for the Prix Conseil Generale de Loire Atlantique. Her rank was a modest 32/50 and she took five faults, but still, it's quite a start. On the last day of competition, Athina and Ricardo tackled the 1m50 jumps again for the Grand Prix de la Ville de Nantes. Again, they took five hits and a modest rank. Athina traveled southeast to Villeneuve-Loubet near Monaco and competed for the first time on her new superhorse, Tomboy. With Tomboy, winner of the World Cup qualifier in London, Athina is poised to think very seriously about the Olympic Games of 2012. London calling!

SKORPIOS - To Sell or Not to Sell

2010-03-05T16:34:00.001-08:00

Athina has a plethora of options before her, if she chooses to put a thinking cap on that pretty head of hers. She inherited absolute ownership of an Ionian paradise that currently has a value of no less than $200 million. In today's real estate market, and considering that other Greek island values don't touch $20 million, that's not bad. Some weird reports started floating around last year speculating that Athina meant to sell her grandfather's treasure island for up to $300 million, or according to a Sky News report, "100m euros (£90m)." Reports also speculated as to "potential buyers," naming the likes of Bill Gates and Madonna. If I were Athina, I'd be talking to someone like Trump or Branson, if only to be inspired. Those men are more than businessmen. Something more than entrepreneurs, they're visionaries.

Athina might think to herself, "So what? I don't care what you would do. I inherited this damn island and don't know what to do with it. I'm not that crazy about Greece and I'm just too damn busy to go there anyway. Besides, when I do go there, the paps come out with their telephoto lenses focused on me from their offshore boats."

So sell the damn island! Or turn it into something you can either market or use. Girlfriend likes horses. Build a super arena and hold competitions there! It could rival the new beach concourse in Monte Carlo. It could be a new phase of the Global Champions Tour. Move the Christina Onassis Equestrian Events out of the Olympic Stadium in Markopoulo. Put it on Skorpios. Rename it the CSI Christina Onassis - the International Jumping of Skorpios!

Or if that's unattractive to you, forget it. Just fix up what needs to be fixed up and turn the place into a rent-an-isle. Charge wealthy vacationers to camp there in the summers. They'd pay up. They'd love to lay on the beach and gaze up at the pink house where Jackie stayed. The profits would swell the fundability behind the existing CSI Athina Onassis in Brazil and the AD Sport Horses in Belgium. Or, if you really want to go for PR kudos, set up a separate charitable fund.

Safe haven for your cash? Germans call on Greece to sell off its islands - Times Online

2010-03-05T13:07:00.000-08:00

Safe haven for your cash? Germans call on Greece to sell off its islands
Roger Boyes, Berlin and John Carr, Athens
A grumpy German politician, joined by a dozen others who can already smell the oleander bushes, has launched a thousand fantasies.

“What should a bankrupt person be doing?” asked Josef Schlarmann, a senior figure in Germany’s governing Christian Democrat Party, on the eve of a visit by George Papandreou, the Greek Prime Minister. “Selling everything he owns to pay his creditors, that’s what. For the Greeks that means buildings and unpopulated islands.”

An island of one’s own — lemon trees, empty beaches, ouzo in the olive grove — has, thanks to the Greek economic crisis, become the new pipe dream. Nor is the idea entirely fanciful. There are 3,054 Greek islands and only 87 are inhabited. And the betting is that the vast majority of the deserted ones belong to the State.

“I’d say now is a good time to start looking at this market,” said Leonidas Babanis, a tourism promoter. “Dig out the ownership details and put in an offer” seems to be the motto. Brokers describe Greek islands as “reasonably affordable”, by which they mean $2 million (£1.3 million) for a 30-acre speck, and up to $300 million, which is what Athina Onassis, the granddaughter of Aristotle Onassis, wants for Skorpios. The two potential buyers, Bill Gates and Madonna, seem still to be mulling it over.

Athina & Doda Horses + Charlotte's Horses

2010-03-04T07:11:00.000-08:00

The AD Stables

Some abbreviations for horse breeds are used in these lists. Their meanings are as follows:

BWP = Belgian Warmblood
Hann = Hannoverian warmblood
HOL = Holsteiner
KWPN = Dutch Warmblood
Oldenburg = A warmblood from a part of Germany's Lower Saxony region that used to be the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg
SF = "Selle Français," a kind warmblood horse bred in France
Z = Zangersheide, another kind of warmblood horse

The format of the data is as follows: BIRTH - BREED ABBREVIATION/SEX/COLOR - SIRE/SIREDAM - OWNER (in the case of the AD horses, the "owner" isn't noted on each horse, since we presume the "owners" in their case are Athina & Doda/"AD Sport Horses." :-)

AD Cintrica Bormes - born on 28 March 2002 - BWP/Stallion/Dark Brown - Sire: Utrillo vd Heffinck
AD Laguina - born 1995 - Oldenburg/Mare/Bay - Sire: Landfreise/Dam: Grannus-Granit
AD Babouche - born 2000 - Z/Gelding/Chestnut - Sire:Baloubet du Rouet
AD Uceline - born 2001 - KWPN/Stallion/Grey - Sire: Celano/Dam: Koriander
AD Welcome du Petit Vivier - born 19 June 1999 - SBS/Gelding/Dark Bay - Sire: Flamenco de Semilly/Dam: Nonstop
AD Tomboy - KWPN/Gelding/Bay - Sire: Emillion/Dam: Ahon
AD Ricardo 500 - born 1998 - KWPN/Gelding/Bay - Sire: Heartbreaker/Dam: Damiro
AD Norson du Revedy - born 2001 - SF/Gelding/Chestnut - Sire: Grand Veneur/Dam: Quidam de Revel
AD Untouchable - born 2001 - KWPN/Gelding/Bay - Sire: Hors la Loi II/Dam: Damiro
AD Picasso - //Bay - Sire: Andiamo Z/Dam: Voltaire
AD Dinzy - Hann/?/? - Sire:Dinard/Dam:Sandro
AD Wilbert Z - born 2003 - KWPN/Gelding/? - Sire: Picasso Z/Dam: Numero Uno

Charlotte Casiraghi's Equine Partners since 2009

Troy - born 30 March 2000 - KWPN/Chestnut - Sire: Calvados/Dam: Jasper - Owner: Charlotte herself (she bought him @ the 2009 Fences auction in Bois le Roi)
GI-Joe - born 1998 - HOL/Gelding/Brown Sire: Graf Grannus/Dam: Grundyman - Owner: Stal Tops (stables of Jan Tops) - Previous owner: Lies Vandousselaere
Tintero - born 1999 - BWP/Gelding/Grey - Sire: Mister Blue/Dam: Cash - Owner: Charlotte herself - Previous owner: Federico Fernández Senderos

On the Villeneuve Tour 2010 - Athina and Tomboy

2010-03-02T07:32:00.000-08:00

Just last Thursday, Rider #162 entered the main arena for the second competition of the day in Villeneuve. It was early in the morning, perhaps 0930-10:00. She rode into the arena on the newest member of her equine family, the champion bay warmblood named Tomboy, who was born on 1999. Yes, you guessed it. That rider was the young Madame Onassis de Miranda. Her result for the competition was the rank of 67 of 96 riders who did not withdraw or were not eliminated. Representing the nation of Greece, Athina gained four points with a time of 72.00.

In the third competition, over 1m35 jumps and with two phases, Athina (this time with the #164) rode Uceline, her gorgeous grey mare. Her 1st phase time was 54:48 and her 2nd phase time was 41:12. Her rank was #21 in the "non classified" riders.

In the afternoon competition, the fourth of the day, Doda rode AD Norson du Revedy and pocketed 800 euros of prize money for his 2nd place finish. The jumps were 1m40 and Athina also competed in this one, riding AD Welcome du Petit Vivier, who was born on 19 June 1999. Athina & Welcome did very well here, though they didn't rank highly in the overall scheme of things. They took home 10 points and their time was 62.85.

Day 2, 11th competition: Athina & Uceline were eliminated. Athina had better luck in the 12th and last competition of the day, with AD Ricardo 500, a bay warmblood who was born in 1998. They took 4 points with a time of 61:15.

By the way....

On Day #2, in competition 9, Rider #590, representing Monaco, was eliminated. This was Mademoiselle Charlotte Casiraghi on a chestnut warmblood named Troy.

The AD Horses -- Team Athina

2010-02-26T19:39:00.000-08:00

Athina rides about four or five horses from the AD stables on a regular basis. These guys (and gale) are currently among her favorite partners in the jumping sport.

1. Welcome du Petit Vivier hails from an interesting place. The "Petit Vivier" stables of Dominique & Nathalie Henneaux-Brassinne are located in Vesqueville, Belgium. Welcome comes from a family of horses with names like "Trust Me du Petit Vivier" and "Believe Me du Petit Vivier." Welcome was born in 1999. He is a bay gelding. He first went to Sweden, thence to the stables of Jan Tops in the Netherlands for training. Then Athina bought him and welcomed Welcome into the AD family.

2. Uceline is a grey/white mare that AD Sport Horses acquired from the Dutch rider Leon Thijssen in 2009. She was born in 2001, so she's considered a young'un and, therefore, only jumps the fences up to 1m35. Uceline is listed as KWPN which means she is a Dutch warmblood.

3. Ricardo 500 is a gelding. He was born in 1998. He's considered a bay colored fella, though he is lighter than Welcome, obviously. He's also a Dutch warmblood.

more soon

Athina - Summer 2009 - Phoning and walking simultaneously

2010-02-24T12:35:00.001-08:00

Last summer Athina multitasked during her eponymous horse show in Rio de Janeiro. The busybody, entrepreneurial heiress (with husband Doda, she owns the AD Sport Horse breeding organization) looked like she meant business as she quickstepped around the outdoor, ultra-modern, super-luxe complex. Can anyone guess what kind of phone is pressed against her ear?

Background

2010-02-23T16:00:00.001-08:00

Originally uploaded by Athina Onassis International Horse Show

Notice Athina?

Look at Rodrigo and move those eyes a little to the right, not to far or you'll pass over her. :)

The girl on Rod's lap, by the way, is his wife, Alexa Weeks Pessoa. They married in September 2009, a few weeks after this photo must have been taken.

The event was the AOIHS/GCT Rio de Janeiro.

Athina's Babouche

2010-02-23T15:56:00.001-08:00

Originally uploaded by Athina Onassis International Horse Show

Athina and Doda at the 2008 AOIHS in Sao Paulo

2010-02-23T14:54:00.001-08:00

Originally uploaded by Athina Onassis International Horse Show

Athina Cavalier

2010-02-23T12:50:00.000-08:00

Athina has had so many equine partners over the years. When she was about twelve, she had Arc de Valmont, a handsome brown gelding with white markings on his face. Arc was nine when they started training for the Swiss jumping license. Athina introduced this horse herself to the Hello! magazine readers. She referred to the horse as "Arc." The British magazine printed his name as Arc, but later when the US weekly magazine People mentioned him, an 'o' was added, so that Arc became Arco.

Athina and Arc practiced on the makeshift obstacle course at Bonneville, the Roussel family's estate in the northerly-central region of France known as the Sologne. Athina's first training coach was Laurent Macaire, one of the Roussels' neighbors in Lussy-sur-Morges, Switzerland. Macaire had a young son for whom Athina liked to babysit. His equestrian school was located near Versailles. Nowadays, Macaire maintains his school at the Jumping Club du Parc about 15 minutes from Paris.

In the years 1999-2000, Athina must have had a horse named Gauloise du Val de Tibermont, but I don't know anything about this horse. There was also a horse named Nina. In 2001, Athina had a dark bay mare named Lara. By the time Athina and Lara registered for the 7th edition of the International Jumping de Monte Carlo, Athina was being trained by Gaetan Colantuono, a Frenchman who might have been behind Athina's involvement with the Club des Habits Rouges. The Swiss equestrian club, which is abbreviated CDHR, included Athina, her sister Sandrine, and Charlotte Casiraghi (as Monaco's delegate) in its membership. In 2004, the CDHR had about 600 members total. The members include amateur riders like the Roussel sisters and Charlotte, as well as instructors like Gaetan and proprietors like Thierry Roussel.

Throughout 2001 and 2002, Athina progressed to a very respectable level for an amateur rider. She got a horse name Baeken Platière, a champion owned by Michel Hecart. She also rode Icamboy St Hubert.

Athina and Sandrine trained with someone named Pierre Badoux, who told Le Matin (daily newspaper) that he thought Sandrine was a better rider than Athina. Badoux said Athina, who was always accompanied to training sessions by two bodyguards, was "simple" and polite" and "discreet." He said she worked very hard, was very good, but again, he thought Sandrine was better.

Athina's next trainer was Nelson Pessoa of "Haras de Ligny" in Belgium. She left her Swiss high school to go there and train with the pros. She brought Baeken and Icamboy with her. Haras de Ligny is the equestrian complex that Nelson Pessoa owns and operates with his son, Rodrigo Pessoa. It is located just outside the town of Ligny and is about seven minutes from Fleurus. The complex is situated about 64 km (50 minutes) south of Brussels. If the Pessoa stables have been considered the "ultimate five-star hotel" for horses, then "Neco" might be the creme brulee of equestrian experts. One of his pupils by the time Athina joined the school was Alvaro "Doda" de Miranda Neto. Doda once said that Neco was like a second father to him. Indeed, Rodrigo is his best friend and perhaps like a brother.

Athina's horse Icamboy was owned by S.A.R.L. European Horses, a company owned by her father. Baeken was still owned by Michel Hecart's company. Athina wanted EH to buy him but Thierry refused. So Athina worked it out so that she could ride Baeken, a pure-bred Selle Français gelding born in 1989. His father was the stallion Laeken and his mother was the mare Opaline Platière. He ended up being bought by the Team Audi, to which Doda belonged along with other Brazilians like Pedro Andrade Costa. Doda trained Baeken and partnered with him for the XXXII Equestrian Cup of São Paulo in 2003. By time Baeken was a Team Audi horse. The São Paulo event in 2003 was Athina's first competition, of many to follow, in Brazil. For the occasion, she brought five horses all the way from their home at Haras de Ligny. The two horses she mainly rode for the competition were Icamboy and Nina III, both Selle Français horses.

Thierry Roussel 57 today

2010-02-16T06:25:00.000-08:00

Thierry François Roussel was born 57 years ago on 16 February 1953 in the Parisian suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine. Contrary to what it says on Wikipedia, his father, Henri Roussel, was not President and General Manager of the Roussel-Uclaf Pharmaceutical Corporation. Roussel-Uclaf was, it's true, originally founded by Henri's father, but on that father's death in 1947, the Romainville-based laboratories were taken over by Henri's brother, Jean-Claude. Henri had, in fact, inherited half of the shares of the company, but being no chemist in his heart, he sold his entire stake to Jean-Claude and lived the rest of his life in the pursuit of his pleasures. Henri had two passions in life: Sun and big game hunting. He bought a reserve in Kenya as a base for the one passion and a villa on the Spanish "Costa del Sol" (sun coast) as an indulgence of the other. Henri also inherited the ancestral estate in central France, Bonneville, and filled its rooms with the stuffed spoils of his Kenyan exploits.

Little Thierry was extremely fond of his paternal grandmother. But she died in a car accident when he was ten, in the same year that his parents' divorced.

Thierry's mother was Francine Grinda. The Grindas hailed from Nice, France. Francine's uncle Édouard was the boast of the family, at least until her brother, Jean-Nöel, grew up and competed for the Davis Cup. He had served as France's Minister of Work and Social Security and was credited as the architect of the social security law of 1928. His famous report, The Grinda Report, was the basis for that law. Not so long after Francine's divorce from Henri Roussel, her sister, Hélène, who was a fashion model, had an affair with the Prince Consort of the Netherlands. In 1967, Hélène gave birth to Prince Bernhard's daughter, named Alexia. Prince Bernhard never publicly acknowledged what was actually a well-known "secret," but after his death in 2004, Alexia's sister, Queen Beatrix, confirmed that the rumors were true.

Thierry's favorite relative on his mother's side was his uncle, the tennis player, Jean-Nöel Grinda. Jean-Nöel was a Bon Vivant Extraordinaire and Thierry's idol. Uncle and nephew associated with a fast-living Parisian set that orbited around "The Playboy" Gunter Sachs and Brigitte Bardot. Both uncle and nephew were very attractive, statuesque, and blond. Jean-Nöel was married to the ultra fashionable Florence Michard-Pellissier, who was coincidentally a friend of Christina Onassis. Thierry dated several fashionable women: the actress Odile Rodin, who once dated Alexander Onassis; Danish model Kirsten Gille; and American model Teresa Prater. The fashion photographer Gunnar Larson introduced Thierry to "Gaby" Landhage in a Paris nightclub in 1971. From Denmark himself, Larson had "discovered" Gaby, who had gone to Paris to work as a translator but ended up fashion modeling.

Having been educated at France's "most famous private school," the École des Roches, which is a boarding school in Normandy, Thierry took the "Bac" exam in 1972. He entered the Pantheon-Assas ("Paris II") University to study economics.

Henri Roussel disapproved of the Swedish-born Gaby, whose proper name is Marianne. He didn't like that she didn't come from an impressive family. She was neither wealthy nor famous. Henri had more glorious ideas for his only son. The father had met Christina Onassis on the ski slopes in Switzerland. He liked her. Christina was the child of a dynamic figure and illustrious past. More importantly, she was wealthier even than Henri. Thierry's marriage to Christina would be, in Henri's view, even more glorious for the Roussel family than the marriage of Christine (Thierry's older sister) to the Duc de Chevreuse and heir to the Duc de Luynes.

Of course, we all know that Thierry was eventually convinced that his father's marital plan for him was good for business. And Gaby was persuaded to think so too. In March 1984, Thierry married Christina and society dubbed him The Most Successful Gigolo in the World. Christina poured money into his bank account, thus financing his outrageous expensively lifestyle, and in return, he gave her the most precious gift ever: Athina Hélène Roussel.

But five months later, Gaby gave birth to Erik Christophe Roussel. Christina heroically tried to make the best of this duplicity. She invited Gaby and baby Erik to her villa in Gingins (Switzerland) in order that Athina could know her brother. Gaby later confided in the press that she loved Christina, that Christina had always been sweet to her. Even Gaby's mother, Maj Lis, was invited to witness Christina's friendly overtures to Gaby. The women seemed genuinely to like each other and to be happy to watch their children play together.

Yet even Christina, with her liberal European notions, had her limits. When Gaby gave birth to Sandrine on 12 May 1987, Christina filed for a "quickie divorce."

What was Thierry doing in this time besides having children with his wife and mistress? He was dabbling in business ventures. People magazine, at the time, gave him the fancy title of "venture capitalist." He partnered with Paul Hagnauer in the operation of the modeling agency PH1, based at Christina's Avenue Foch apartment complex. Naturally, he dabbled in shipping and property ventures. Thierry invested in a sport horse breeding venture known as European Horses. "EH" later provided horses for Athina and Sandrine. Thierry was President until two years ago (2008) of a joint stock company that he started in 1987. It's called the Société de Gestion Financière et Commerciale SA, or simply SGFC.

His overall reputation as a businessman isn't glowing. Edward Klein and Nicholas Gage, both writing for Vanity Fair magazine, quoted several of Thierry's critics in the citation of his humiliations. Diane Sawyer, during her 1998 interview with the Roussels in Lussy-sur-Morges, asked Thierry himself about the "strawberry farms" in Portugal. Sawyer and the 20/20 investigators discovered that Thierry had invested in these farms and been forced, under the threat of bankruptcy, to sell them at a loss. But that's not all. Nicholas Gage pointed to Thierry's foolish sale of Athina's Olympic Tower shares just prior to the New York real estate boom.

Thierry certainly passed on his entrepreneurial instincts to his son. Erik studied Business Administration at Geneva's European University for one year. With two Swedish friends, he has started an advertising agency called Vinces Media.

Thierry and Gaby maintain residence in their well-known pink bungalow in Lussy-sur-Morges. Their kids are all grown up. Even the youngest, Johanna, will be 19 in July of this year. Her big sisters are both persistent on the showjumping circuit. Sandrine is registered with the FEI from the Rhônes-Alpes region, in which lies the Bonneville estate. She continues to ride EH horses, as well as horses owned by a holding company of Bel Oil Corporation. Athina, who originally registered from Rhônes-Alpes, is currently registered with the Greek "Avlona" club and, since 2006, has used the name of Onassis de Miranda. No longer under her father's thumb, Athina rides her own horses and is her own sponsor. She and husband Doda started their own sport horse breeding company, AD Sport Horses, initially based at the Pessoa stables in Fleurus, Belgium. This year, the AD headquarters are moving their own stables in the Netherlands.

Athina and Thierry have always had a complicated relationship. She once explained to Nicholas Gage that, as a child, she feared him. He was a strong authoritarian father. In public, more fearful of the paparazzi than of him, she clung to his sleeve. As a teenager, as she increased her sense of self, she struggled against his tyranny. Gage wrote that when she wanted to buy a horse, and he would not let her, she resented it. It was worse when he told her that her boyfriend was a gold digger who was going to "take everything" from her. Still worse, and the cause of the final crack in their relationship, was to come in 2003. She had unwittingly signed over power of attorney to Thierry. Her lawyers eventually settled the matter with his lawyers, and the power of attorney was restored rightfully to Athina's own name in exchange for a hefty settlement. But the damage was done. Thierry did not attend her wedding on 3 December 2005. Instead, he took Gaby, Erik, and Johanna to Morocco. Only Sandrine stood by Athina at the ceremony. It's unknown whether the snub was on Thierry's or Athina's part. Her camp claims that he was welcomed to attend the ceremony. His camp claims he didn't receive an invitation.

Last year, there was a rumor that Athina made some trips to Switzerland in attempts to reconcile relations with her dad. One hopes that Thierry, at 57, is wise enough to appreciate his relationships with all of his children, to let them spread their wings, discover their true natures, and live at peace with themselves.

THE END

Another FARO DE VIGO translation

2010-02-15T12:05:00.000-08:00

A few articles were published in the Faro de Vigo newspaper (online) during the CSI Vigo weekend. I translated one for this blog a couple of days ago. Here is another one.

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The title: The Richest Amazona of the World

[Note: I don't like to translate Amazona because it doesn't have a good match in English. Girl does not suffice. An amazona is a beautiful or fashionable or glamorous girl, I suppose. The Spanish language media likes to use this word for Athina and also for "Carlota" Casiraghi.]

Athina Onassis, last surviving descendant of the Greek tycoon, arrives by her private jet in Vigo, where she is to due for an equestrian competition. She was well-known as the "richest girl of the world" and today, besides possessing an immense fortune, she is an amazona who enjoy the equestrian sphere. Athina Onassis arrived yesterday at Peinador [the Vigo airport] in her private jet and from today she will be among the participants in the CSI [International Jumping de Vigo].

Athina Onassis Roussel (29 January 1985, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France) is the granddaughter of the deceased Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis. She is in fact his only living descendant. Her mother, Christina Onassis, died of pulmonary edema at the age of 37, when Athina was three. The child was raised by her father, the Frenchman Thierry Roussel, who had been Christina's fourth husband and had come to marry the Swedish Gaby Landhage. In Lussy-sur-Morges (Switzerland) she enjoyed a stable, familiar atmosphere; and she was shielded from media attention, because she was inheritor of an enormous fortune through the succession of the Onassis family, considered to be as much as (US) $270 million. [Note: Actually, as the article appears to be talking about the entire Onassis fortune, including both Athina's personal fortune and the Onassis Foundation, this figure is a gross underestimation.] By certain legal testaments, Athina has not been able to control that fortune until reaching the majority of age (half at age 18, the other half at 21). Also, she has endured one long legal battle against the managers of the Alexander S. Onassis Foundation, the organization that owns 45% of her grandfather's legacy.

Athina, at an early age, displayed a passion for the horse world. She bought a house near Brussels, where she owns an immense stables for a great number of horses. And also in that world, she found her husband, the professional Brazilian rider Alvaro Alfonso de Miranda Neto, nicknamed Doda and 12 years older than she, and who was married when they met. After divorcing the first [common law] wife, Doda married Athina on 3 December 2005. During the wedding and reception, 400 private security guards protected the couple and the guests from the unauthorized entry of press photographers. The married couple have their home base in Sao Paulo, from which they go all over the world, most habitually to compete in equestrian competitions. They have even already been to Vigo in previous occasions and also regularly [compete in the CSI] Casas Novas (A Corunna).

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Astrologically Speaking

2010-02-15T09:38:00.000-08:00

We all know that Athina was born on 29 January 1985 in the Sun of Aquarius. Like Libra and Gemini, Aquarius is one of the "air" signs. Athina possesses many of the qualities that are typical of the Airy folks. For instance, she is a good communicator. She is fluent in several languages: Not only French and English, but also her stepmother's native Swedish, and the German and Italian languages which are mandatory in the Swiss school system. She enthusiastically learned to chat with her husband in Portuguese, and she probably knows more about Greece and its language than her critics give her credit for.

Athina has the mental discipline to stay focused on her equestrian training. It is not enough to be able to ride horses and jump over the fences. She wants to join the hall of champions. She is ambitious and hardworking. This sets her apart from, say, some of her Niarchos cousins. The attribute of self-discipline is typical for people born under the air signs.

Finally, the Aquarius are compatible with other Air Sign people: Libras and Geminis, and other Aquarius. Athina married a fellow Aquarius and, astrologically speaking, that is itself a good sign!

Athina's father, Thierry Roussel, is also Aquarius. He was born on 16 February 1953. Her late mother, Christina Onassis, was born on 11 December 1950 and, therefore, was a Sagittarius. Stepmother Gaby could be either Scorpio or Sagittarius.

Her siblings:

Erik was born in June 1985. He could be either Gemini or Cancer.
Sandrine, born on 12 May 1987, is a Taurus.
Johanna, born in July 1991, could be either Cancer or Leo.

Athina is the Rich Girl Next Door

2010-02-14T10:21:00.000-08:00

This is my attempt at a translation of this Spanish article dated 13 February 2010:

* http://www.farodevigo.es/gran-vigo/2010/02/13/nina-rica-millonaria/411318.html

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The “rich girl” isn't like a millionaire
She stays herself in “three stars” [hotel] and takes a walk by of the hand of her husband

"Unless exposed in the LIGHT, one would not know she was a multimillionaire." For many in Vigo, like this waiter [who said those words] the granddaughter of the Greek tycoon Aristotle Onassis was a stranger until she was seen in this newspaper disembarking from her jet in [Vigo's] Peinador [airport]. The rich Greek heiress, 26 [here, the article is mistaken; she is 25] is characterized by her discretion. She hardly appears in the magazines of the heart, except for when she competes in the equestrian tournaments, like the one which has now brought her to Vigo. Even her marriage in Sao Paulo to the Brazilian rider Alvaro Alfonso de Miranda Neto -- 13 years her senior and with a daughter from a previous marriage -- was celebrated in the strictest privacy by her express wishes. Since then, Athina lives for horses, between Belgium and Brazil, reinforcing the hermetic lifestyle imposed by living to shun the glamorous parties
and the very jet set that is within reach of her pocket and notorious surname.

"She does nothing like a millionaire." About this, all the people who met her during this short say in the "city of olive tree" agree. This is well-affirmed by her choice to stay at a 3* hotel, whereas the crew of her private jet stayed at the luxurious [5-star] Pazo los Escudos.

How was she affected by the crisis? In 2003, as she reached the age of 18, she became the richest adolescent in the world, with a fortune of about $300 million inherited from her mother Christina's estate, hitherto administered by Greek executors. An exorbitant amount that never seem to be assumed absolutely. "I would burn the money," she once said. The same day she arrived in Vigo, the past Thursday, she went away to have dinner with her husband, and ten other people, including the crew of the plane. They chose the restaurant El Soriano, where she had already dined twice before [in previous visits to the city, it is implied.]
She showed a preference for wine that cost 30 euros for the bottle, "el Marqués de Riscal" ["the Marquess of Riscal" wine]. they feasted on Iberian ham and ox meat. "And this time they did not bring bodyguards," said several employees. To anyone it would seem strange that the owner of the island Skorpios, paradise of the Ionian Sea, so little draws attention from the general public. She took a walk yesterday by the hand of her husband. And for this walk she dressed so habitually, so self-assured and normal, without so much as a ring to evidence the millions of which she is administrator.

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