Gilles ThomasOlympian

About Gilles Thomas

Gilles Thomas, born on 27 May 1998, is a Belgian showjumper whose rise from a decorated youth career to the senior elite accelerated sharply from 2022 onwards. He grew up in a horse-centred family: his mother competed at championship level in ponies and juniors, and his aunt is married to the former Belgian international rider Marc Van Dijck, whose Stal Nieuwenhof operation at Nieuwenrode, near Brussels, has provided Thomas with horses, coaching and a professional structure from youth level into five-star sport. His youth record was among the best of his Belgian generation: European Children's team gold in 2012, European junior individual silver in 2014, double European junior gold at Millstreet in 2016 - a season that also brought Belgium's Jumping Talent of the Year award - and Young Rider team silvers in 2017 and 2019, six youth European medals in all.

His senior breakthrough came in 2022, when he won the Longines King George V Gold Cup at Hickstead with Aretino 13 - his first five-star Grand Prix victory and the first by a Belgian since 1931 - and jumped faultlessly on his senior Nations Cup debut as Belgium won the Barcelona Final with Calleryama, securing Olympic qualification. Belgian senior titles followed in 2023 with Ermitage Kalone and 2024 with Luna van het Dennehof, and at Paris 2024 he made his Olympic debut with Ermitage Kalone, finishing eighth with Belgium and 20th individually after reaching the final.

The 2025 season converted potential into proven senior honours. At the FEI European Championship in A Coruna he won team gold alongside Nicola Philippaerts, Pieter Devos and Thibeau Spits, and added individual bronze - his first senior championship medals - both with Ermitage Kalone. He then became the youngest Longines Global Champions Tour champion in series history, sealing the title in Rome with two stages remaining and finishing on 287 points, built on Grand Prix wins in Paris with Ermitage Kalone and New York with Qalista DN. He completed the double as Global Champions League champion with Valkenswaard United, with reported 2025 circuit prize money of about EUR 1.87 million, and ended the year by winning the Mechelen World Cup qualifier with Qalista DN - a qualifier victory, it should be noted, not a World Cup Final title.

Thomas's career is distinguished by long-term horse production rather than acquisition. Joris Van Dijck gave him the ride on Ermitage Kalone at six, and the stallion has combined a championship career with heavy breeding use; Qalista DN was brought from 1.40m to five-star Grand Prix level after joining him; Luna van het Dennehof is home-bred. Interviews consistently portray him as calm, analytical and family-oriented, with a stated preference for stable continuity and horse welfare over short-term commercial gain. Rolex added him to its equestrian family as a Testimonee in early 2026, when it reported a career-high world ranking of fourth; on the 1 July 2026 Longines list he stood sixth with 2,859 points.

The 2026 season underlined how closely his championship profile remains tied to Ermitage Kalone. The stallion jumped without a jumping fault in the La Baule Nations Cup and finished sixth in both the La Baule and Riesenbeck five-star Grands Prix, but sustained an injury after Riesenbeck and was withdrawn from the FEI World Championships in Aachen before competition began - a decision Thomas framed squarely in terms of the horse's health and wellbeing. He has therefore not yet completed a senior World Championship, and an Olympic medal, a World Cup Final podium and a Rolex Grand Slam Major remain outstanding; his stated longer-term targets include the 2027 home European Championship in Waregem and Los Angeles 2028. At 28, with a string that now runs several horses deep, his record is that of an established championship rider still in development.