![]() One of three golds at Rio in 2016 | |
Personal information | |
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Birth name | Sophie Margaret Christiansen |
Born | 14 November 1987 Ascot, Bracknell Forest, Berkshire, England |
Sport | |
Country | ![]() |
Sport | Para equestrian |
Achievements and titles | |
Paralympic finals | 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016 |
Highest world ranking | 1 |
Personal best | 84.75% |
Medal record |
Sophie Margaret Christiansen, CBE (born 14 November 1987) is an English equestrian who has competed in four successive Paralympic Games. [1] [2] In 2012 and 2016 she gained three gold medals at the Paralympics. [3] 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. [4]
Christiansen was born two months prematurely with cerebral palsy and suffered from other health problems including jaundice, blood poisoning, a heart attack and a collapsed lung. [5] At the age of six she began horse riding as a form of physiotherapy at her local Riding for the Disabled Association (RDA) group.
In 2016, Christiansen gained three gold medals at the Paralympics in Rio on Athene Lindebjerg. She contested the freestyle, scoring 79.7%, and individual championship dressage grade I, the classification grade for severely disabled athletes, and was part of the gold medal-winning team competition, along with Natasha Baker, Anne Dunham and Sophie Wells. [6]
London 2012 also saw her win three gold medals at the home Games, in the grade 1 individual championship, freestyle and team competition on her horse Janeiro 6. Christiansen contested the team gold medal with teammates Debbie Criddle, Lee Pearson and Sophie Wells. Christiansen won gold in the freestyle with a personal best score of 84.75% finishing 5.75% ahead of her closest rival." [7] She was Britain's first triple gold medallist at the London Paralympic Games. [8] In honour of her achievements at the London 2012 Games, the Royal Mail painted a postbox gold for each of her gold medals in her original hometown of Sunningdale, [9] on the campus of her University and in her hometown at the time of Maidenhead. Her horse Janeiro 6 also got a postbox painted gold in Fulmer, Buckinghamshire, near where she trained at South Bucks RDA.[ citation needed ]
In 2008, Christiansen represented Great Britain at the Summer Paralympics. The equestrian events were not held in the host city Beijing but instead took place at the Olympic Equestrian Centre in Hong Kong. Competing in her second Games, she again contested the freestyle and individual championship dressage events at grade 1 and was part of the British quartet in the team dressage. [10] Riding Lambrusco III, she won an individual gold medal in the freestyle and silver in the championship dressage. [11] [12] In the team open Christiansen, with teammates Lee Pearson, Anne Dunham and Simon Laurens won her second Paralympic gold medal. [13]
She first competed at the Paralympics aged 16 and was the youngest athlete for Great Britain at the 2004 Summer Paralympics. [2] [10] [14] In the freestyle event Christiansen finished fourth. The championship grade I dressage saw Christiansen win her first Paralympic medal. Competing with Hotstuff, owned by her teammate Nicola Tustain, she took bronze.
Christiansen has often spoken about how the Paralympics changed her life as a teenager. At school she was highly self-conscious about her disability, especially her speech. But seeing so many disabled people at once, just getting on with their lives and joking about it at the same time, made her want to be seen in this positive light as well.
Christiansen has won numerous medals at World and European Championships, including three golds at the 2015 European Championships in France, two golds and a silver at the 2014 World Equestrian Games in France, three golds at the 2013 European Championships in Denmark, two golds and a silver at the 2010 World Equestrian Games in the US, two golds and a silver at the 2009 European Championships in Norway, a gold and a bronze at the 2007 World Championships in the UK and three golds at the 2005 European Championships in Hungary.
She qualified for the postponed 2020 Summer Paralympics but had to drop out due to her horse, Innuendo III, not being fit. She would have joined the GB team of Paralympic gold medallists Sir Lee Pearson, Natasha Baker and Sophie Wells. Her place was taken by the European medallist Georgia Wilson who made her Paralympics debut. [4]
Through her success, Christiansen is a visible role model. However this has not come easily and she feels it is important to talk about the societal barriers of living with a disability. In 2019 she started a petition to improve accessibility on the UK's railway network, due to being left stranded on a train in her wheelchair numerous times whilst commuting into London.
Supporting charities is also important for Christiansen, as a way of giving back to areas which have helped get her where she is today. She champions the following charities either as a Patron, Ambassador or Vice President: Riding for the Disabled Association, SportsAble, The Rainbow Centre, The Movement Centre, Mane Chance and Sparks.
Christiansen is a patron of the charity Chance for Childhood. [15] In 2015, she visited their projects with disabled children in northern Rwanda. [16]
Christiansen takes part in the Superhero Series twice a year on her recumbent trike to promote inclusive recreational sport and staying fit and healthy for people with a disability.[ citation needed ]
Christiansen was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2017 New Year Honours for services to para-equestrianism. [17]
Finalist of 2016 BBC Sports Personality of the Year, she was voted fifth out of sixteen contenders - top female and para athlete behind Mo Farah. In 2015 Christiansen won a 'Women of the Future Award'. It was the first year that a sports category was included and the judges picked out Christiansen for her ‘ferocious determination to succeed'. [18]
In 2016, Royal Holloway Students' Union introduced the "Sophie Christiansen Shield" to their Sports Club Awards for a club that has "gone to great lengths to not only make their club as inclusive and as accessible as possible but have also educated their members as to why this is so important." [19]
Appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to equestrianism. [20] [21]
Appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2009 New Year Honours for services to disabled sport. [22] [23]
She was named BBC London Disabled Athlete of the Year for 2004. [24]
Christiansen works as a software developer at investment bank Goldman Sachs and has a first class master's degree in Mathematics from Royal Holloway, University of London. [25]
In an interview with City AM she talked about the benefits of having "something else to think about". [26] She told The Times that working two days a week helped to "lessen the intensity" of competing at a high level in sport. [27]
The Riding for the Disabled Association, also known as the RDA, is a United Kingdom based charity founded in 1969 focused on providing therapeutic horse-riding, equestrian vaulting and carriage driving lessons to people with developmental and physical disabilities as well seeking to improve the lives of those with mental health difficulties. Princess Anne has been the organisations President since 1985.
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 OBE is a British Para-equestrian who has competed in the Paralympic Games.
Laura Tomlinson MBE is a German-British dressage rider competing at Olympic level. As of 30 June 2012 the Fédération Équestre Internationale (FEI) ranked her 3rd in the world riding Mistral Højris and 36th on Andretti H. In that year, Tomlinson, riding Mistral Højris under her maiden name of Laura Bechtolsheimer, won two medals in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London; gold for Great Britain in the team dressage with Carl Hester and Charlotte Dujardin, the first ever Olympic team gold in the discipline for her country, and bronze in the individual dressage behind gold medalist and compatriot Dujardin.
Simon Laurens is a British Para-equestrian who competed at the 2008 Summer Paralympics, held in Beijing, China.
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. She held the complete set of available individual elite dressage titles at one point: 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.
To commemorate British gold medal winners at the 2012 Summer Olympics and 2012 Summer Paralympics, various post boxes in the home towns of the medal winners around the United Kingdom, plus one each on Sark and the Isle of Man, were repainted gold. It marked the first occasion in modern times that the colour of post boxes in the United Kingdom had been changed from their traditional red. Originally intended to be a temporary measure, due to the positive public response it was later decided the colour change would become a permanent tribute, with boxes additionally receiving their own special plaques.
Michèle George is a Paralympic equestrian of Belgium. She won five gold and one silver medal at the Paralympic Games.
Sophie Wells is a British para-equestrian who won three medals at the 2012 Summer Paralympics, and 2 Golds and 1 Silver at the 2016 Rio Paralympics, and most recently Team Gold and Individual Silver at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics.
Natasha Louise Baker 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.
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.
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 in the individual championship test grade II and individual freestyle test grade II events at the 2020 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.