Eight-time Paralympic gold medalist Sophie Christiansen has announced her retirement from para-dressage.
Christiansen, who was born two months premature with cerebral palsy, started riding at the age of six.
She made her Paralympic debut in 2004 in Athens at the age of 16 and despite being the youngest member of the GB team in Greece, she achieved an individual bronze medal.
She won freestyle and team gold and individual silver at Beijing 2008 before claiming three gold medals at both London 2012 and Rio 2016.
Christiansen was also selected for the postponed 2021 Tokyo Paralympic Games, but had to withdraw due to a veterinary problem with her horse.
“After a competitive career spanning 20 years, I have decided to retire from para-dressage,” said the 36-year-old.
“I was once told, ‘when you know it, you know it’. I used to wonder what this meant, but now I realize I’m more excited about the possibilities of what I could do outside of sport than ever a four-year cycle of highs and lows as an athlete.”
Christiansen has also competed in European and World Championships and outside of sport has a master’s degree in mathematics, which she uses as part of her role as a software developer for investment bank Goldman Sachs.
“Para-dressage has given me so much and the sport has allowed me to redefine what I thought was possible and to continue to break barriers in all areas of my life,” she added.
“I want to work with the RDA (Riding for the Disabled), British Dressage and British Equestrian to introduce people to the world of para-dressage, so that when another ‘I’ comes along, they too can realize their dreams .”
