A four-time Olympian in the equestrian events, Willi Melliger was twice a show jumping silver medalist, capped by his individual silver aboard Calvaro V at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. He and Calvaro competed together from 1995 to 2001, also winning a team European Championship in 1995. At his stable in Neuendorf Melliger did jumping training and organized the CSI Neuendorf. In December 2017 Melliger suffered a stroke, and spent the next month in a coma before dying.