By Stacey Tinsley, Bossier Press-Tribune
Dreams do come true. Just ask Benton’s Sydney Conley Elliott. Sydney and her horse, Q-C Diamantaire, recently competed in the 2024 Paris Olympics. Initially named as alternates on the U.S. team, Elliott and Q-C Diamantaire were officially added to the four-horse team just two hours before the start of the Olympics after an injury sidelined another member.
“The Olympics have been something I have dreamed about since I was a child, and to be a part of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games is such an honor and responsibility to represent the USA,” Elliott said. “To all of my supporters over the years in the Ark-La-Tex, it has taken a village, and I would never have been able to achieve this childhood dream without every single person who supported me throughout my career.”
Elliott is currently in Belgium, after completing her Olympics competition on Monday, July 29, 2024.
Elliott’s Beginnings
Sydney’s first riding experience as a child was at Holly Hill Farm in Benton, where she trained throughout her entire riding career before moving her operation to her own farm just two miles down the road. Owned and operated by Bobby and Tracy Hewlett, Holly Hill, along with their Gator Bayou Pony Club branch, served as the foundation for Sydney’s riding and horsemanship education.
When she was just 10 years old, her mother bought her Fancy—a 14.2-hand pony.
Elizabeth Abbott, Elliott’s manager and the quintessential “brains behind the operation,” shares fond memories of Elliott’s career leading up to the 2024 Paris Olympics.
“In the 21 years that Sydney and I have been friends, we’ve traveled all over the world, from Maryland to Kentucky to England to Peru to Germany, and now to Paris! In Maryland in 2015, on our very first trip together as the four-person dream team which includes Carol, Sydney, Elizabeth, and Arden, Carol’s daughter, Sydney gained her first qualifying score for the 2016 Olympics! Another pivotal moment of that trip and our journey to Paris was the four of us meeting Q for the first time, who had just arrived in the USA from Belgium, the same location where Sydney is currently based with Q for the next two weeks!
“We all experienced the thrill of top-level eventing first hand when she finished the Kentucky 5* three-day event in 2016 for the first time, and then the heartbreak of that horse being out on injury shortly after that. In 2018, we enjoyed a trip to England with some local Benton, Louisiana horse friends and witnessed eventing in Europe for the first time. Our goals were heightened watching the best in the world compete at the highest level. In 2019, our true Team USA journey began with Q as they were named as alternates for the Pan American Games in Lima, Peru. As a consolation prize, Sydney and I spent 10 days in Peru hiking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, enjoying getting to know each other on a new level, sharing a tent, camping, and hiking 26 miles with no showers for four days!
“In 2020, our friendship developed further when COVID hit during my honeymoon and Syd ended up keeping my young horse in training while I was working overtime during the pandemic as a pharmacist. We ended the 2020 season in triumph, placing sixth at the final Olympic qualifier for Tokyo, and the real dreams of making a team began! 2021 was a year that ended in huge success, having been named as alternates for Tokyo and finishing the year with a fifth-place finish at her first international competition in the Netherlands. In my eyes, that is where everyone for Team USA began to see how world-class the partnership of Syd and Q had become.
“Being an alternate for the Tokyo Olympics fueled the fire to take our campaign to the next level for Paris 2024, and Syd made the move to North Carolina in the spring of 2022 to hopefully become more competitive, more often, in front of the selectors for the U.S. team. To see all our strategy and brainstorming sessions, specifically over the last three years since Tokyo 2021, culminate with her and Q being named onto the U.S. Olympic team in Versailles is one of my greatest privileges. I am honored to be a part of this dream team, and I cannot wait to see where this crazy roller coaster journey takes us next,” said Abbott.
Looking Ahead
After accomplishing her longtime dream, Elliott and her team have their eyes set on the future: the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California.
“When I started this journey with Sydney 11 years ago, I did not imagine that we would be where we are at this time. I didn’t dream big enough. I never really thought that we would be at the Olympics someday. But as time went by, I began to visualize what we might be able to accomplish. I would say that Sydney and I have a relationship like no other owner and rider. I am often confused as the groom or massage therapist at shows, as I am mucking stalls and doing bodywork. I would say I’m right there in the thick of it. As time has gone on, we have all learned what goes into a true high-level competition. I would never have thought I could talk so much about hay, shoeing, conditioning, and the list goes on. Being able to have Q and Sydney at the Paris Olympics has only fueled the fire. 2028 is definitely a goal that we have our sights set on, and we will be pushing to be at LA. I know Sydney has what it takes. My job is to make sure she has the horse power to get there,” said Carol Stephen, Q-C Diamantaire owner.
