In a sport dominated by athletes from Europe and North America, Singapore’s Laurentia Tan is the most accomplished Asian rider on the paralympic circuit.
Born in 1979, Tan developed cerebral palsy and profound deafness after birth, and moved to Great Britain with her parents at the age of three. Horse riding, which she took up at age five, was initially a form of physiotherapy.
Recognising her talent the Singaporean Riding for The Disabled Association invited Tan to join the Singapore team for the FEI World Para-Equestrian Dressage Championships in July 2007, her first international competition.
Having qualified for the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games, Tan won bronze medals in both the individual and freestyle events, one of only two Singapore medallists that year. In London, four years later, she upgraded her freestyle bronze to silver, and again won bronze in the individual competition. She was Singapore’s sole medallist in London.
In recognition of her achievements, Tan was conferred the Pingat Bakti Masyarakat (Public Service Medal) in 2008 and the Bingtan Bakti Masyarakat (Public Service Medal) by the President of Singapore in 2012. Tan also has a degree in hospitality management and tourism from Oxford Brookes University, and said she loves how dressage challenges her mind and physical agility.
Tan is an FEI Solidarity Ambassador, helping to develop Para-Equestrian as part of the governing body’s global sport development programme, and, in her spare time, enjoys swimming and going to the theatre.
She is a close rival of Great Britain’s Sophie Christiansen, and the pair will be one to watch in the grad 1a class in the lead-up to Rio 2016.
