Amy Tryon. © Nancy Jaffer
June 21, 2012 – UPDATE -Olympic medal-winning eventer Amy Tryon died of an accidental overdose, a coroner has revealed. The U.S. rider, who won team gold medal at the World Games in Jerez in 2002 and team bronze at the 2004 Athens Games, died in her sleep on April 12, 2012. She was 42.
The medical examiner’s office ruled that Tryon’s death was accidental and said Tuesday that toxicology reports show she died of an “acute combined opiate” overdose. The office said toxicology tests showed that present in her system at the time of her death were Oxycodone, a semi-synthetic opioid, diphenhydramine, which is an ingredient in over-the-counter cold and allergy medications, and several benzodiazepines: Alprazolam, Diazepam, Lorazepam and Temazepam.
According to her husband, earlier in the week she had sustained a jaw injury from a horse and then had surgery to fix it. The pain medications she was taking from the surgery did not mix with the other drugs. It was not the amount of drugs in her system; it was the combination.
April 12, 2012–It is with deep regret that the United States Equestrian Federation acknowledges the passing of Amy Tryon, a stalwart of the United States Eventing Team. Amy, 42, died in her sleep on April 12, 2012.
We wish to express our condolences to her husband Greg, her mother, Jemi and the rest of her family and will follow Greg’s lead to assist and support in any way possible. The family is grateful for the outpouring of love and support, service arrangements will be made available once they are finalized.
Amy Tryon, team bronze medallist for the USA at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, passed away yesterday (12 April).
Born in Redmond, Washington State on 24 February 1970, Amy and her older sister got their first pony when Amy was just one. She started competing at the age of five and rode at her first event when she was just eight.
She found her top horse, the former racehorse Poggio II, in a classified advertisement in the Seattle Times newspaper. Together Amy and Poggio represented the USA at two Olympic Games, Athens 2004 and the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in Hong Kong, and two FEI World Equestrian Games™, winning team gold in Jerez de la Frontera (ESP) in 2002 and individual bronze in Aachen (GER) in 2006.
Amy was a firefighter until the summer of 2006, when she retired to dedicate herself full time to riding, basing herself out of Mapleleaf Eventing at Upson Downs in Duvall, Washington.
Captain Mark Phillips, US Eventing Team Chef d’Equipe, said: “Amy was one of my first developing riders on the West Coast and went on to be a regular member of the team for 10 years.
“We won the Worlds in 2002 and she was third individually in the Aachen World Equestrian Games. We will all miss her terribly. She was a central member of the team, and was part of some of our most successful years.”
The FEI expresses its sincere condolences to Amy Tryon’s husband Greg and her family, to the United States Equestrian Federation and to the international Eventing community.
