| Natasha Baker OBE | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Natasha Baker | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Discipline | Para-dressage | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 30 December 1989 Hammersmith, London, England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Natasha Louise Baker (born 30 December 1989) is a British para-equestrian who won 2 gold medals at the 2012 Summer Paralympics, 3 at the 2016 Summer Paralympics, and 1 more in the 2020 Summer Paralympics.
Baker was born on 30 December 1989 in Hammersmith, London, England. [1] At the age of 14 months she contracted transverse myelitis, an inflammation in her spine that affected her nerve endings. [2] [3] She was left with weakness and no feeling in her legs. [4]
Natasha Baker began riding horses as physiotherapists said it would help to strengthen her muscles. [3] She started riding competitively at the age of nine at her local Riding for the Disabled Association in Buckinghamshire. [5] Whilst watching the 2000 Summer Paralympics, at the age of ten, she decided she wanted to compete in the Paralympics. [1] As she lacks strength in her legs she trains her horses to respond to her voice and to movements she can make in the saddle. [6] [3] She competes in the grade III Paralympic classification.
In 2011, she made her first appearance at a senior championships, competing at the European Championships held in Moorsele, Belgium, where she won gold medals in both the individual and freestyle grade II events. [1]
She was selected as part of the dressage squad for Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Paralympics held in London, United Kingdom. In the individual championship test grade II event Baker, riding Cabral, an 11-year-old gelding, scored 76.857% to set a new Paralympic record for the grade II classification and win the gold medal ahead of German defending champion Britta Napel who won silver with a score of 76.000%. [7] [8] She won her second gold medal of the Games in the individual freestyle test grade II. She set a new Paralympic record of 82.800% as she beat second placed Napel by over 5%. [9] [10]
Baker was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to equestrianism and Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2022 New Years Honours, also for services to equestrianism. [11] [12] [13] She was awarded the Freedom of the Borough of Hillingdon in September 2012. [14] [15]
Baker commentated on Para Dressage at the 2017 FEI European Championships in Gothenburg alongside Rupert Bell. [16] She then went on to commentate on Western European League Dressage World Cup later that year and continue to do so either as colour commentator or solo. [17]
She was also part of the commentary team at the 2018 FEI World Equestrian Games and the 2019 FEI European Championships for Para Dressage and the Dressage World Cup Finals in 2018 & 2019. [2]
Baker got married in June 2022 and she has a child. [1]
Sir David Lee Pearson is a 14-times Paralympic Games gold medallist, having represented British para-equestrianism in Sydney, Athens, Beijing, London, Rio, and Tokyo. Over the course of his career he has won 30 gold medals at European, World and Paralympic level.
Laurentia Tan Yen Yi BBM PBM, is a Singaporean para-equestrian competitor. Tan developed cerebral palsy and profound deafness after birth, and moved to the United Kingdom with her parents at the age of three. She took up horse riding aged five years as a form of physiotherapy. She subsequently completed her A-levels at the Mary Hare Grammar School, a residential special school for the deaf, and graduated with an honours degree from Oxford Brookes University in hospitality management and tourism.
Anne Patricia Dunham is a British Para-equestrian who has competed in the Paralympic Games.
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Sophie Margaret Christiansen is an English former equestrian who competed in four successive Paralympic Games. In 2012 and 2016 she gained three gold medals at the Paralympics. In 2008 she won two gold medals and a silver at the Beijing Paralympics whilst studying for a master's degree in mathematics at Royal Holloway, University of London. She works as a software developer at investment bank Goldman Sachs and as a disability campaigner. She qualified for the postponed 2020 Summer Paralympics but had to drop out due to her horse not being fit.
Carl Hester is a British dressage rider competing at Olympic level. As of 8 August 2012, the Fédération Équestre Internationale (FEI) rank him 12th in the world riding Uthopia. In 2012, Hester formed part of the Great Britain Dressage team that won gold at the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Joann Formosa, is an Australian Para-equestrian, who won a gold medal at the 2012 London Paralympics.
Charlotte Susan Jane Dujardin is a British dressage rider, equestrian, and writer. A multiple World and Olympic champion, Dujardin has been described as the dominant dressage rider of her era. In 2014 she held the complete set of available individual elite dressage titles: the individual Olympic freestyle, World freestyle and Grand Prix Special, World Cup individual dressage and European freestyle, and Grand Prix Special titles. Dujardin was the first rider to hold this complete set of titles at the same time.
Para-equestrian is an equestrian sport governed by the International Federation for Equestrian Sports (FEI), and includes two competitive events. One is para-equestrian dressage, which is conducted under the same basic rules as conventional dressage, but with riders divided into different competition grades based on their functional abilities. The other is para-equestrian driving, which operates under the same basic rules as combined driving but places competitors in various grades based on their functional abilities.
Michèle George is a Paralympic equestrian of Belgium. She won seven gold and one silver medal at the Paralympic Games.
Sophie Wells is an English para-equestrian who won three medals at the 2012 London Paralympics, three at the 2016 Rio Paralympics, two at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics and two at the 2024 Paris Paralympics.
Deborah Criddle MBE is a British para-equestrian who won three gold medals at the 2004 Summer Paralympics and three medals at the 2012 Summer Paralympics.
Cabral (2001–2017), also known as JP, was a gold medalist dressage horse ridden by Natasha Baker. The Polish-born British dressage horse, a Paralympic gold winner (2012) in Rio, was euthanized.
Lauren Barwick is a member of the Canadian Equestrian Team, in grade II Para-Dressage, who has competed in the 2004, 2008 and 2012 Paralympic Games. She won three medals in those games. Barwick has featured in CBC's Heartland and has several awards.
Susan Seipel is an Australian Para-canoeist, a gold and bronze medallist in kayak and outrigger canoe at the 2015 and 2016 World Championships. She won a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Paralympics and a silver medal at the 2020 Summer Paralympics. another bronze medal at 2024 Summer Paralympics
Sharon Jarvis is an Australian para-equestrian. She represented Australia at the three Summer Paralympics - 2008 Beijing, 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo.
Nicola Tustain is a retired Welsh Paralympic dressage rider. During her career, Tustain won multiple para-dressage medals at the World Championships and Paralympic Games. She was named a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 2010.
Georgia Wilson is a British equestrian, who won bronze medals in the individual championship test grade II and individual freestyle test grade II events at the 2020 Summer Paralympics, and the Individual championship test grade II event at the 2024 Summer Paralympics. She also won the individual championship grade II event at the 2019 FEI European Championships.
Suzanna Hext is a British Paralympic swimmer and equestrian, who won three gold medals in dressage at the 2017 FEI European Championships, and two medals at both the 2019 and 2023 World Para Swimming Championships. She finished fourth in two S5 swimming events at the 2020 Summer Paralympics.
Fiona Howard is a British-American para equestrian. She competes in Grade II para dressage. She represented the United States at the 2024 Summer Paralympics.
