Wokingham’s Paralympian equestrian Sophie Christiansen has achieved an amazing double treble of gold medals across the Rio and London games, writes Sue Corocoran.
Sophie, a former pupil at All Saints Primary in Wokingham has scooped a gold medal in each of her three events at Rio.
It’s a repeat of her performance at the 2012 London games where she did the same thing. She now has eight Paralympic golds and has competed in four games.
Sophie has thanked all Lottery ticket buyers who helped fund her sport.
Her third Rio gold came in the individual freestyle dressage event, where she performed to music written specially for her and her horse Athene by Harry Potter film composer Nick Hooper.
Athene’s performance is remarkable. It wasn’t known until the last moment whether she had recovered from an infection well enough to travel to Rio.
After the freestyle gold Sophie said: “It’s amazing, I’m so proud of all my team, I’m just thrilled. We won the Gold team medal by twenty per cent which is amazing.
“It’s down to grassroots sport in the UK, through Riding for the Disabled Association and also UK Sport and the Lottery funding, it’s a massive level of support, so thank you to everyone who buys their Lottery tickets.”
Sophie and Athene were the final competitors in the freestyle event. A GB equestrian spokesman said: “With a stunning start to their test, there were high scores awarded for their medium walk and transitions.
“As they planted their final halt, the crowd waved, before the cheers erupted after a score of 79.700% was given, meaning a British one-two for the second day running, with Sophie taking the Gold and Anne (Dunham) the Silver.”
Tweet of support
BBC sports commentator Leon Taylor tweeted: “Take a bow @SophieChristiansen87 3 gold medals in Rio to match 3 golds in London. One of the most impressive women I know.X
