British Paralympic dressage team for Tokyo Games revealed

The British Paralympic dressage team for next month’s Tokyo Games has been announced.

Four combinations have been selected, with three to compete as the British team and one to ride as an individual, which will be decided after arrival in Tokyo. The four selected pairs are:

• Sophie Wells with Charlotte Hogg’s 14-year-old gelding C Fatal Attraction (grade V)
• Natasha Baker with Joanna Jensen, Christian Landolt, Phil Baker and her own 10-year-old mare Keystone Dawn Chorus (grade III)
• Sir Lee Pearson with his own nine-year-old gelding Breezer (grade II)
• Sophie Christiansen with her own 13-year-old gelding Innuendo III (grade I)

Liz Walsh and Jade Lockwood will act as travelling grooms for the horses in Tokyo.

The Paralympic dressage competitions are being held 26-30 August 2021 at the equestrian park in Tokyo’s Heritage Zone. The team medals will be decided on 29 August, and the individual medals in each of the five grades will be presented on 26, 27 and 30 August.

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Britain will head to Tokyo as defending Paralympic champions, with all four riders on the 2021 British Paralympic dressage team having competed for Britain at Rio in 2016, and also at London in 2012.

Britain has won gold at every Paralympics since para dressage was introduced to the Games at Atlanta in 1996, but the team was relegated to the silver medal position at the World Equestrian Games in 2018 and the European Championships in 2019. The Netherlands won the gold medal on both these occasions.

Three of the four team horses will be making their debut championship appearances: Natasha’s Keystone Dawn Chorus, Lee’s Breezer and Sophie Christiansen’s Innuendo. This will be a fifth championship appearance for Sophie Wells’ ride, the 14-year-old C Fatal Attraction, who won double individual gold at WEG in 2018, but it will be his first Paralympic Games.

Lee is the most experienced Paralympian of the quartet – Tokyo will be his sixth Games. This will be the fifth Games for Sophie Christiansen, and the third Games for both Natasha and Sophie Wells.

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