Four equestrian riders to look out for

The IPC and FEI’s Ones to Watch list for equestrian includes: Sophie Christiansen, Lee Pearson, Pepo Puch and Laurentia Tan. 02 Jul 2013

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By Rob Howell | For the IPC

From this group, three of the riders won at least one gold at the London 2012 Paralympic Games and will take their first steps toward Rio 2016 when they compete at the Hartpury Festival of Dressage beginning on Wednesday (3 July) in Gloucester, Great Britain.

Sophie Christiansen, Lee Pearson, Pepo Puch and Laurentia Tan have all been named to the International Paralympic Committee’s (IPC) Ones to Watch list for equestrian, which was put together in conjunction with the Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI).

The IPC’s Ones to Watch initiative showcases the top equestrian riders around the world with a particular eye on August’s upcoming FEI European Championships in Herning, Denmark, which, for the first time, will host para-dressage alongside dressage and jumping events.

From this group, three of the riders won at least one gold at the London 2012 Paralympic Games and will take their first steps toward Rio 2016 when they compete at the Hartpury Festival of Dressage beginning on Wednesday (3 July) in Gloucester, Great Britain.

The equestrian Ones to Watch list includes two British stars in Lee Pearson and Sophie Christiansen.

As a 10-time gold medallist, Pearson made clear in interviews after London 2012 that he intends to compete at Rio 2016, while Christiansen wants to build on an exceptional 2012 in which she won three golds and completed a master’s degree in mathematics.

Austria’s Puch, currently ranked world No. 1, took home a gold and bronze in London, having previously competed at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games in the eventing competition as an able-bodied rider. A serious accident in 2008 severed his spinal cord, but he was back on horseback as soon as he could after six months in hospital, and a gold-medal winning Paralympian four years later.

Singapore’s Tan is something of a legend in her home country as the nation’s top medal-winning athlete. She is a rare representative of an Asian country in a sport dominated by European and North American nations and has a Paralympic silver and two bronze medals to her name. This past April, Tan was appointed as an FEI Solidarity Ambassador to support the growth of para-dressage internationally as part of the governing body’s global sport development programme.

These names are not necessarily the Ones to Watch athletes for Rio 2016, but are the ones to keep your eyes on at World and regional Championships, as well as other major international events, throughout the next Paralympic cycle.

A number of other activities will also be implemented across social media in a concerted effort to boost the profiles of these athletes and make them household names for years to come.

The IPC’s Ones to Watch campaign launched in the lead-up to London 2012, when a new section was included within Paralympic.org, entitled Ones to Watch. This series of pages was designed to raise the profiles of leading medal contenders in Paralympic sports and act as an essential media resource.