Sophie Christiansen CBE

Equestrian

Region

Ascot, Berkshire
Date of Birth

14/11/1987
Classification

Grade 1

Bio

A school trip to her local RDA centre (South Bucks) inspired Sophie to start riding at age six. Her first major international competition came ten years later – the 2004 Athens Paralympic Games, where she won an individual bronze medal. That same year, she was voted BBC London Disabled Athlete of the Year.

Aside from her riding career, Sophie used to compete in half-marathons and won the Windsor half-marathon in a self-propelled wheelchair race in 2002.

At Beijing 2008 Sophie competed in the freestyle and individual championship dressage events at grade 1 and was part of the British quartet in the team dressage. Riding Lambrusco III, she won an individual gold medal in the freestyle dressage and team gold along with Lee Pearson, Anne Dunham and Simon Laurens. She also won a silver medal in the championship dressage.

At London 2012 riding Janeiro 6 she secured an incredible triple gold (team, individual and freestyle) at her home games.

At Rio 2016 Sophie successfully defended her individual titles to secure another superb hat-trick of gold medals, taking her career total to eight Paralympic titles and 10 medals overall in a glittering career.

Sophie was awarded an MBE in the 2009 New Year Honours list for services to disabled sport and an OBE in the 2013 New Year Honours list. Outside of her sporting achievements, Sophie achieved her Masters degree in Mathematics from Royal Holloway University in 2012.

Sophie announced her retirement from Paralympic sport in 2024.

Major Results

Rio 2016 Paralympic Games

Team: Gold
Individual (la): Gold
Freestyle (la): Gold

London 2012 Paralympic Games

Team: Gold
Individual: (la): Gold
Freestyle (la): Gold

Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games

Team: Gold
Individual (la): Silver
Freestyle (la): Gold

Athens 2004 Paralympic Games

Individual (l): Bronze

2015 Senior European Championships, Deauville, France

Team: Gold
Individual (la):Gold
Freestyle (la): Gold

2014 World Equestrian Games, Normandy, France

Team: Gold
Individual (la): Gold
Freestyle (la): Silver

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