Carl Bouckaert, one of the owners of Beaulieu of America,
together with several Beaulieu associates, shop to restock
the Red Cross food bank of Murray County, Georgia.Twelve years after representing his native Belgium in the Sydney Olympics in 2000, Dalton-area carpet baron Carl Bouckaert will be in the equestrian competition again this month at the London Games.
The 58-year-old Bouckaert was selected last week as one of five members of the Belgian three-day eventing team. He is one of the founders and owners of Beaulieu Group LLC, the third largest carpet mill in the United States.
“This is certainly exciting for our company, the Dalton area and the state of Georgia to have Carl as a competitor in this year’s Olympics,” Beaulieu CEO Ralph Boe said in a company release.
According to the release, eventing involves consecutive days of dressage (precision riding), cross country timed jumping and stadium show jumping. Leading up to the team’s selection, Bouckaert has spent three months in intensive training in Europe.
The Olympic equestrian competition begins July 28 at Greenwich Park, London’s oldest royal park.