Sophie Margaret Christiansen (born 14 November 1987) is an English former equestrian who competed in four successive

Paralympic Games The Paralympic Games or Paralympics is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of disability, disabilities. There are Winter Paralympic Games, Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 ...

. In 2012 and 2016 she gained three gold medals at the Paralympics.Sophie Christiansen
, Rio2016, Retrieved 17 September 2016 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 Royal Holloway, University of London (RH), formally incorporated as Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, is a public university, public research university and a constituent college, member institution of the federal University of London. It ...

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

. She works as a software developer at investment bank

Goldman Sachs The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered in Lower Manhattan in New York City, with regional headquarters in many internationa ...

and as a disability campaigner. She qualified for the postponed

2020 Summer Paralympics The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event held from 24 August to 5 September 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. They were the 16th Summer Paralympic Games as organized by the Inte ...

but had to drop out due to her horse not being fit.

Early life

Christiansen was born two months prematurely with

cerebral palsy Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, spasticity, stiff muscles, Paresis, weak muscles, and tremors. There may b ...

and suffered from other health problems including

jaundice Jaundice, also known as icterus, is a yellowish or, less frequently, greenish pigmentation of the skin and sclera due to high bilirubin levels. Jaundice in adults is typically a sign indicating the presence of underlying diseases involving ...

, blood poisoning, a heart attack and a collapsed lung. At the age of six she began horse riding as a form of physiotherapy at her local Riding for the Disabled Association (RDA) group.

Competition

In 2016, Christiansen gained three gold medals at the

Paralympics The Paralympic Games or Paralympics is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of disabilities. There are Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Kore ...

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 Anne Patricia Dunham (24 September 1948 – 11 May 2025) was a British Para-equestrian who competed in the Paralympic Games. Early life and disability Whilst at school Dunham worked at a local stable in her spare time and, by the age of 16, she ...

and

Sophie Wells Sophie Wells (born 5 May 1990) is an English para-equestrian who won three medals at the 2012 London Paralympics, three at the 2016 Rio Paralympics, two at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics and two at the 2024 Paris Paralympics. Personal life Wel ...

. 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 Sir David Lee Pearson (born 4 February 1974) 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 med ...

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." She was Britain's first triple gold medallist at the London Paralympic Games. 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, 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. 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 The Markopoulo Olympic Equestrian Centre hosted the Equestrian at the 2004 Summer Olympics, equestrian events at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. The venue is located at Markopoulo Mesogaias, Markópoulo on the outskirts of the Athens su ...

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. Riding Lambrusco III, she won an individual gold medal in the freestyle and silver in the championship dressage. In the team open Christiansen, with teammates

and Simon Laurens won her second Paralympic gold medal. She first competed at the Paralympics aged 16 and was the youngest athlete for Great Britain at the 2004 Summer Paralympics. 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 The FEI World Equestrian Games are the major international championships for equestrianism, and are administered by the Fédération Équestre Internationale (FEI). The games have been held every four years, halfway between sets of consecutive S ...

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

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

, Natasha Baker and

. Her place was taken by the European medallist Georgia Wilson who made her Paralympics debut. After missing the 2024 Paris Paralympics, Christiansen announced her para-dressage retirement on 5 November 2024.

Disability campaigner

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 The Riding for the Disabled Association (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 disabiliti ...

, SportsAble, The Rainbow Centre,

The Movement Centre ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' ...

, Mane Chance and Sparks. Christiansen is a patron of the charity Chance for Childhood. In 2015, she visited their projects with disabled children in northern Rwanda. 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.

Honours

Christiansen was named BBC London Disabled Athlete of the Year for 2004. She was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in the

2009 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2009 were announced on 31 December 2008 in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Cook Islands, Barbados, Grenada, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, and Saint Christopher and Nevis,Saint Christopher. t ...

for services to disabled sport, promoted to

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) in the

2013 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2013 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...

for services to equestrianism, and further promoted to

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE) in the

2017 New Year Honours The 2017 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours were awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...

for services to para-equestrianism. 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'. 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." Christiansen was shortlisted for 2016 BBC Sports Personality of the Year, eventually being voted fifth out of sixteen contenders.

Personal and professional life

Christiansen was educated at Charters School and

Royal Holloway, University of London Royal Holloway, University of London (RH), formally incorporated as Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, is a public university, public research university and a constituent college, member institution of the federal University of London. It ...

, where she attained a first class master's degree. She received an honorary fellowship from the college in May 2012. Christiansen works as a software developer at investment bank Goldman Sachs. In an interview with ''

City A.M. ''City AM'' is a free business-focused newspaper distributed in and around London, England, with an accompanying website. In January 2025, it had a monthly online readership of 4m. In 2023 it had a print circulation of 67,714. History ''City ...

'' she talked about the benefits of having "something else to think about". She told ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' that working two days a week helped to "lessen the intensity" of competing at a high level in sport.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Christiansen, Sophie 1987 births Living people British dressage riders English female equestrians Paralympic equestrians for Great Britain Paralympic gold medalists for Great Britain Paralympic silver medalists for Great Britain Paralympic bronze medalists for Great Britain Equestrians at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Equestrians at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Equestrians at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Equestrians at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Alumni of Royal Holloway, University of London Paralympic medalists in equestrian Goldman Sachs people Sportspeople with cerebral palsy 21st-century English sportswomen