Bruce Springsteen's daughter Jessica makes U.S. Olympic equestrian jumping team
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Jessica Springsteen, daughter of Bruce Springsteen and his wife, E Street Band member Patti Scialfa, is heading to the Tokyo Olympics. The equestrian just made the U.S. show jumping team with a 12-year-old Belgian Warmblood stallion who goes by Don Juan van de Donkhoeve (owned by Stone Hill Farm), U.S. Equestrian announced on Monday.
The daughter of the rock 'n' rollers started riding as a youth after the family moved to a farm in Colts Neck, New Jersey.
Davide Mombelli - Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images Jessica Springsteen
"I would go ride every day after school. I never wanted to skip a lesson," Jessica told CBS News in 2018. "If I ever had to for any reason, I'd be so upset. So I was just always really focused on it."
Jessica has become a standout star in the sport, having won the silver as part of the Zone 2 Young Riders team and the individual bronze medal at the 2010 North American Youth Championships. She was an alternate for the U.S. team at the London Olympics in 2012.
More recently, she took fifth with Don Juan van de Donkhoeve in the $500,000 Rolex Grand Prix CSI5*. She is also the third-highest rank showjumper in the U.S.
The athlete said her parents are fans of the sport and see her shows "as often as they can," she previously told PEOPLE.
"It's definitely fun to have them around. They're the best supporters," she also told the mag. "They're always happy no matter how I do, which is nice."
David M. Benett/Getty Images Bruce Springsteen, Jessica Springsteen, Patti Scialfa
Jessica, Bruce and Patti's middle child, said the couple is encouraging no matter what.
"There have been so many ups and downs, and they have always pushed me whenever I have been feeling down," she told World of Showjumping. "They always helped me get through it. I would not be where I am today if it wasn't for them."
Also representing the U.S. in Tokyo are Kent Farrington, with Belgian Warmblood Gazelle; Laura Kraut, with Hanoverian gelding Baloutinue; and McLain Ward, with Deutsches Sportpferd gelding Contagious.
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