Eight-time Paralympic champion Sophie Christiansen retires from para dressage

Multiple Paralympic gold medallist Sophie Christiansen has announced her retirement from para dressage.The 36-year-old won 10 Paralympic medals across four Games – Athens, Beijing, London and Rio – including eight golds during an era when Great Britain dominated the sport.“After a 20-year competitive career, I have decided to retire from para dressage,” Christiansen said, in a statement released by British Equestrian.“I was once told, ‘when you know, you know’. I used to wonder what this meant, but now I realise that I am more excited about the possibilities of what I could do outside of the sport than doing another four-year cycle of highs and lows as an athlete.”Christiansen, who was born two months prematurely with cerebral palsy, made her Paralympics debut at Athens 2004, winning a bronze medal.But it was in London eight years later that she excelled, landing two individual titles and team gold. In total, Christiansen collected 30 senior championship medals, with 24 of them being gold.British Equestrian’s para dressage performance manager Georgina Sharples added: “From being the youngest British Paralympian in Athens, Sophie has dominated international podiums for more than a decade, making her one of our most successful British para dressage athletes.“To have formed gold medal-winning partnerships with such a variety of horses shows true talent, and it has been a pleasure to watch her compete on the world stage over the years.“Despite calling time on competitive riding, I know that she will still be helping to develop and grow our sport from the sidelines.”

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