Eight-time Paralympic champion heading to Preston for public talk

Sophie Christiansen on Janeiro 6 at Paralympics London 2012

The University of Central Lancashire is welcoming an eight-time Paralympic champion to its Preston Campus.

British dressage rider Sophie Christiansen CBE, who has competed in four successive Paralympic Games, is giving a free talk on Monday 17 March.

The Champion of Sport and Disability Advocacy event will see Sophie discuss her glittering career, which includes winning multiple World and European titles.

Sophie was born two months prematurely with Cerebral Palsy and had other health problems including jaundice, blood poisoning, a heart attack and a collapsed lung. Aged six, she started riding for physiotherapy at the local Riding for the Disabled Association group.

She first competed at the Paralympics aged 16 and was the youngest athlete for Great Britain at the Athens Paralympics in 2004, coming away with an unexpected bronze medal.

At Beijing 2008, she won two golds and a silver, while at London 2012 and Rio 2016, she scooped a hat-trick of golds at both Games.

Following her success in Rio, she placed fifth in the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year and was the highest placed female athlete.

Sophie was awarded an MBE in the 2009 New Year Honours list for services to disabled sport and an OBE in the 2013 New Year Honours list. She was further promoted to CBE in the 2017 New Year Honours for services to para-equestrianism.

The Royal Holloway mathematics graduate, who works as a software developer, announced her retirement from the sport late last year.

Organiser Sarah Jane Hobbs, Professor of Equine and Human Locomotion at the University of Central Lancashire, said: “We’re absolutely delighted to be welcoming such a fantastic Paralympian to our Preston Campus.

“Sophie’s achieved so much success during her elite sporting career and I can’t wait for people to hear about that, she is an inspiration and a role model for riders wanting to reach their own goals.

“Alongside her sporting career she has forged a career as a software developer and her success in both roles has given her a platform to speak up about the realities of living with a disability.

“When not working, riding or frame running she spends many hours raising awareness of accessibility issues and campaigning for change.”

The free talk will take place on Monday 17 March between 6pm and 8pm in Darwin Building Lecture Theatre. You can register for free tickets via Eventbrite.

Subscribe: Keep in touch directly with the latest headlines from Blog Preston, join our WhatsApp channel and subscribe for our twice-a-week email newsletter. Both free and direct to your phone and inbox.

Read more: See more of what’s on in Preston

This story was made possible by you, our readers, and a host of organisations in the city, through our Crowdfund Lancashire appeal, which unlocked support from the Lancashire Culture and Sport Fund provided by Lancashire County Council. You can see all our coverage and, if you know of an arts project or event in the city we should be covering, you can submit it for our event listings and/or send details to contactus@blogpreston.co.uk for us to cover it as a story on the Blog.