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Current world No. 1 Pepo Puch has an Paralympic and Olympic story that dates back to the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, at which he competed in the eventing competition.
A serious riding accident in 2008, however, severed his spinal cord and left him with incomplete paraplegia. Despite spending six months in hospital following the accident he took up riding again as soon as he was able.
The Austrian has since won a gold medal at London 2012 in the freestyle event (grade 1b) and bronze in the individual competition. His gold came almost four years to the day since his accident. Puch is also the reigning European individual champion and current world-record holder with a score of 80.667%.
A committed family man, 47-year-old Puch is married to his coach, Michelle, and has a young daughter, who he is keen to introduce to the sport of dressage. The family lives in Switzerland.
Puch made his competitive debut back in 1987 at the FEI European Eventing Championships, held in Freistadt, just six years after taking up riding.
Puch will defend his European title at this year’s ECCO FEI European Championships 2013 in Herning, Denmark.
His personal motto is: “Anything that is conceivable is possible.”
And in his case, that is most certainly true.
