Christiansen not riding Rio at Rio 2016

“Rio’s handsome and Athene is beautiful,” Christiansen said. “I thought after Rio I would not be able to ride any other horse as good as him. But I found one.”

Great Britain’s Sophie Christiansen is excited about her new horse Athene, but feels nostalgic that her superstar horse Rio probably will not, after all, ride in Rio 2016 which begins exactly one year from Monday (7 September).

While riding the handsome bay Rio (known officially as Janeiro 6), Christiansen won three London gold medals, three more at the 2013 ECCO International Equestrian Federation (FEI) European Para-Equestrian Dressage, and two gold medals and a silver at last year’s Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. She also won two golds in Beijing 2008.

But as time went on, Christiansen moved on to a new horse.

“I am a bit sad about Rio,” Christiansen said. “As he is getting a bit older and stiffer, I might need to think about when to retire him diplomatically. I would have been happy to have him as my backup next year, but we will see how it goes.”

She will ride the black mare called Athene (linked to Athens 2004, where she won her first Paralympic medal – a bronze), who will make her four-star international debut at the FEI Para-Equestrian Dressage European Championships (17-20 September) in Deauville, France.

Christiansen is convinced the crowd will fall in love with Athene.

“When my parents saw her in competition at Hickstead, they said they could hear the gasp of the audience when she walked in, she (Athene) is that kind of horse,” Christiansen said. “If she loses marks, it is going to be my fault. I am thrilled with her. I could not ask for more.”

Athene was found in Denmark by Michel Assouline, Great Britain’s para-equestrian team coach, and was bought by Di Redfern for Sophie to ride. Di has been by Christiansen’ side throughout her career and owns the Riding for the Disabled facility, where Christiansen has trained for the last 14 years.

Athene then spent a year at Assouline’s stables, where Christiansen had to drive once every two weeks, but is now based at Christiansen’s local yard just west outside London.

While this month’s European Championships will be a major test for the new pair, Christiansen is in no rush to see success.

The Rio 2016 Paralympics are the goal.

“I know I am better when I have an end point and know what I have to do to get there rather than getting there too early and going stale,” Christiansen said.

Sometimes, just hearing about her schedule can be exhausting. Outside of riding, Christiansen also works two days a week for investment house Goldman Sachs, where she writes statistical models in code to implement into the company’s programmes. It keeps her busy, that Christiansen can be found with her laptop even at major competitions.

“I really enjoy having that other challenge in my life – it is really interesting. I am such a geek,” Christiansen said.

The big challenge is just one year away.

Christiansen had previously spoken about the prospect of riding Rio in Rio 2016.

But as Athene develops further, that poetic match now seems to not be on the cards.

“Rio’s handsome and Athene is beautiful,” Christiansen said. “I thought after Rio I would not be able to ride any other horse as good as him. But I found one.”

Tickets for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games are now on sale for Brazilian residents.