Eight-time Paralympic champion Christiansen retires

Eight-time Paralympic golden medallist Sophie Christiansen has announced her Para-dressage retirement.

Christiansen, who was calved 2 months aboriginal with cerebral palsy, started riding aged six.

She made her Paralympic debut successful 2004 successful Athens aged 16 and contempt being the youngest subordinate of the GB squad successful Greece came distant with an idiosyncratic bronze medal.

She won freestyle and squad golds and idiosyncratic metallic astatine Beijing 2008 earlier claiming 3 golds astatine some London 2012 and Rio 2016.

Christiansen was besides selected for the delayed Tokyo Paralympics successful 2021 but had to retreat due to the fact that of a veterinary contented with her horse.

"After a 20-year competitory career, I person decided to discontinue from Para-dressage," said the 36-year-old.

"I was erstwhile told, 'when you know, you know'. I utilized to wonderment what this meant, but present I realise that I americium much excited astir the possibilities of what I could bash extracurricular of the athletics than doing different four-year rhythm of highs and lows arsenic an athlete."

Christiansen besides has competed astatine European and World Championships and distant from the athletics has a masters grade successful mathematics, which she uses arsenic portion of her relation arsenic a bundle developer for Goldman Sachs concern bank.

"Para-dressage has fixed maine truthful overmuch and athletics has empowered maine to redefine what I thought was imaginable and to support breaking barriers successful each areas of my life," she added.

"I privation to enactment alongside the RDA (Riding for the Disabled), British Dressage and British Equestrian to proceed introducing radical to the satellite of Para-dressage truthful erstwhile different 'me' comes along, they tin besides execute their dreams."