Laura Tomlinson

Laura Tomlinson medal table
Laura Tomlinson, two-time medalist in the 2012 Olympics
Dressage riding
United Kingdom
Olympic Summer Games
gold	2012	Team (with Mistral Hojris )
bronze	2012	Singles (with Mistral Hojris )
World championships
silver	2010	Team (with Mistral Hojris )
silver	2010	Singles (Grand Prix Spécial) (with Mistral Hojris )
silver	2010	Individual (Grand Prix Freestyle) (with Mistral Hojris )
European championships
silver	1999	Crew, pony
silver	2000	Crew, pony
bronze	2004	Team, young riders
bronze	2005	Team, young riders
silver	2009	Team (with Mistral Hojris )
bronze	2009	Singles (Grand Prix Spécial) (with Mistral Hojris )

Laura Tomlinson , MBE (born January 31, 1985 in Mainz , Rhineland-Palatinate as Laura Bechtolsheimer ) is a British-Swiss dressage rider .

In December 2012 she was fourth in the FEI dressage world rankings with Mistral Hojris . With Andretti H, she also ranks 130th.

Career

Due to her parents (her father, the entrepreneur and equestrian sponsor Wilfried Otto Bechtolsheimer , competed in the 1995 European Dressage Championships for Great Britain), Laura Tomlinson was surrounded by horses even in her childhood. As a result, she got her first pony at the age of three.

At the beginning of her career, the dressage rider was interested in versatility. At age 12, she won the National Independent Schools Championship in Great Britain. Under the influence of her then coach Ian Woodhead , who looked after her up to the juniors, her interest in dressage grew. At the age of 14 she won the team silver medal with her pony at the European Pony Dressage Championships. Since then she has been a member of a British championship team every year.

At the age of 18, she switched to Markus Gribbe , and is now trained by her father and Klaus Balkenhol (whom she claims to be her role model in sport). In 2005, at the age of just 20, she became the youngest British champion to date. In 2007 she graduated from Bristol University with a degree in Philosophy and Political Science .

Since the European Championships in Windsor in 2009 and the CDI5 * in Hickstead , Laura Tomlinson has been the British record holder in the three most important dressage tests: with 76.638% in the Grand Prix and with 80.083% in the Grand Prix Spécial (Windsor) and with 81.800 in the Grand Prix Freestyle (Hickstead ).

She was able to improve this performance at the 2010 World Equestrian Games in Kentucky . With the 15-year-old Danish chestnut gelding Mistral Hojris , she achieved 82.511% in the Grand Prix of the team competition and was less than two percentage points behind the Dutch winner Edward Gal with the exceptional stallion Totilas . Laura Tomlinson then stated that it was not only the highest rating she had ever received, but also the best ride of her life. In the Grand Prix Spécial, the 25-year-old British woman also secured second place behind Edward Gal with 81.708% and set her own British record. In the final Grand Prix Freestyle rider and horse were rewarded for their performance with 85.350% and second place, again behind the outstanding Dutchman. Three silver medals crown the achievements of the successful British rider.

At the 2012 Olympic Games , in front of a home crowd in London, she and Mistral Hojris won the bronze medal in the individual ranking, which was determined in the Grand Prix Freestyle. A few days earlier, the British dressage team with Tomlinson's participation had won Olympic team gold for the first time.

Private

Laura Tomlinson is one of four children from the marriage of Wilfried Bechtolsheimer and Ursula Bechtolsheimer geb. Tilt. On her mother's side, she is the granddaughter of the German entrepreneur Karl-Heinz Kipp . Since her mother acquired her citizenship in Arosa many years ago , Laura Tomlinson has both British and Swiss citizenship.

At the age of one, Laura Tomlinson moved with her parents from Frankfurt am Main to Ampney St Peter, Gloucestershire , Great Britain , where her family runs a horse breeding and training stable. She has been a British citizen since then.

She has been married to polo player Mark Tomlinson since March 2013 , with whom she has been dating since 2009 and engaged since August 2012. The church wedding took place on March 2, 2013 in the village church of Arosa . The numerous wedding guests invited included Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge , William, Duke of Cambridge and Harry of Wales . Upon marriage, she took the surname Tomlinson.

honors and awards

• Great Britain's Dressage Rider of the Year (2008)
• Order of the British Empire (Member) by Queen Elizabeth II.

Horses

• Mistral Hojris (* 1995), Danish chestnut gelding, father: Michellino, mother's father : Ibsen
• Andretti H (* 1995), bay Hanoverian gelding, father: Aarking, mother's father: Cavalier, ridden by Anna Paprocks-Campanella and Hubertus Schmidt until mid-2008
• Douglas Dorsey (* 1991; † 2011), Hanoverian dark chestnut gelding, father: Donnerhall , mother's father: Salem, last used in international sport in 2008, euthanized in May 2011 due to illness

successes

Championships

• European Championships :
  • 2004, Aarhus (Junior European Championship): 5th place in singles with Douglas Dorsey and 3rd place with the team
  • 2005, Barzago (Young Riders European Championship): 6th place in the individual and 3rd place with the team with Mistral Hojris
  • 2007, La Mandria: with Mistral Hojris 20th place in the individual and 5th place with the team
  • 2009, Windsor: 3rd place in singles (Grand Prix Spécial) with Mistral Hojris , 4th place in singles (Grand Prix Freestyle) and 2nd place with the team
• World Equestrian Games :
  • 2006, Aachen : with Mistral Hojris 21st place in the individual and 6th place with the team
  • 2010, Kentucky : Mistral Hojris 2nd place in singles (Grand Prix Spécial), 2nd place in singles (Grand Prix Freestyle) and 2nd place with the team
• Summer Olympics :
  • 2008, Hong Kong : with Mistral Hojris 17th place in the individual and 5th place with the team
  • 2012, London : 3rd place in the individual and 1st place with the team with Mistral Hojris
• British Championship:
  • 2005, Stoneleigh Park: British Champion with Douglas Dorsey (77.50%)
  • 2008, Stoneleigh Park: could not take part in the final ranking (with Andretti H victory in the Grand Prix)
  • 2010, Stoneleigh Park: British Champion with Andretti H (78.55%)
  • 2011, Stoneleigh Park: British Champion with Andretti H (76.80%)

Further successes (in selection)

Victories

• Grand Prix CDI-W 's-Hertogenbosch 2007 with Mistral Hojris
• Grand Prix Spécial CDI 5 * Stuttgart German Masters 2009 with Mistral Hojris
• Grand Prix Freestyle CDI 4 * Cappeln 2010 with Mistral Hojris

2nd places

• Grand Prix Special CDI 4 * Lingen 2007 and 2009 with Mistral Hojris
• Grand Prix Freestyle CDI 4 * Lingen 2009 with Andretti H
• Grand Prix Special CDI 5 * Lyon 2008 with Andretti H
• Grand Prix Special CDI 5 * Stuttgart German Masters 2008 with Mistral Hojris
• Grand Prix Freestyle CDI-W London Olympia 2010 with Mistral Hojris

3rd places

• Grand Prix Special CDI 5 * Lingen 2008 with Mistral Hojris
• Grand Prix Freestyle CDI 5 * Hickstead ( WDM ) 2009 with Mistral Hojris
• Grand Prix Freestyle CDI 5 * Hickstead (WDM) 2010 with Andretti H
• Grand Prix Special CDIO 5 * Aachen 2010 with Mistral Hojris

Best international results (since 2007)

• Grand Prix de Dressage:
  • 2007: 75.333% (2nd place at the CDI-W London Olympia with Mistral Hojris )
  • 2008: 74.875% (2nd place at the CDI-W London Olympia with Mistral Hojris )
  • 2009: 76.638% (3rd place at the European Championships 2009 with Mistral Hojris )
  • 2010: 82.936% (1st place at the CDI-W London-Olympia Mistral Hojris )
• Grand Prix Spécial:
  • 2007: 71.840% (6th place at CDI 5 * Stuttgart with Mistral Hojris )
  • 2008: 74.800% (2nd place at CDI 5 * Stuttgart with Mistral Hojris )
  • 2009: 80.083% (3rd place at the European Championships 2009 with Mistral Hojris )
  • 2010: 81.708% (2nd place at the 2010 World Equestrian Games with Mistral Hojris )
• Grand Prix Freestyle:
  • 2007: 76.350% (4th place at CDI-W Neumünster with Douglas Dorsey )
  • 2008: 75.300% (4th place at the CDI-W London Olympia with Mistral Hojris )
  • 2009: 81.800% (3rd place at CDI 5 * Hickstead with Mistral Hojris )
  • 2010: 85.350% (2nd place at the 2010 World Equestrian Games with Mistral Hojris )

(Results by December 25, 2010)

Web links

Commons : Laura Tomlinson  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ 2013 New Year's Honors . Retrieved December 29, 2012. 
2. ↑ Excerpt from the 115th FEI world rankings dressage (horse-related world rankings, results from September 1, 2009 to August 8, 2010)
3. ↑ ^{a b} Team GBR: Laura Bechtolsheimer
4. ↑ www.pferderevue.at
5. ↑ Portrait Laura Bechtolsheimer , reiterpost.de
6. ↑ Laura Bechtolsheimer , horsehero.com
7. ^ Result list Grand Prix Freestyle at the CDI 5 * Dressage at Hickstead 2009
8. ^ Result Grand Prix Dressage, Team Competition, Kentucky 2010
9. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original dated November 1, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
10. ^ Result Grand Prix Spécial, individual competition, Kentucky 2010
11. ↑ Grand Prix Freestyle, Individual Competition, Kentucky 2010
12. ↑ [1]
13. ↑ Aroser Zeitung of August 17, 2012, p. 5.
14. ^ Stuttgart German Masters: Laura Bechtolsheimer wins the Grand Prix Spezial , Horse & Sports, November 22, 2009
15. ↑ Laura Bechtolsheimer marries (8/2012)
16. ↑ British royals spend the weekend in Arosa
17. ^ Team GB: Laura Tomlinson
18. ^ FEI horse database: Mistral Hojris
19. ^ FEI horse database: Andretti H
20. ^ FEI horse database: Douglas Dorsey
21. ^ Douglas Dorsey died , St. George, June 4, 2011
22. ↑ FEI short biography: Laura Bechtolsheimer
23. ↑ 2005 British Dressage Championships , Eurodressage, September 16, 2005
24. ↑ Maria Eilberg, 2008 British Dressage Champion , Eurodressage, September 21, 2008 (English)
25. ↑ Dressage Deluxe National Dressage Championships 2010: Day four , British Dressage, September 13, 2010 (English)
26. ↑ Overview of the results of the 2011 British Dressage Championships
27. ↑ FEI Success Database Dressage ( Memento of the original from June 19, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.