Deborah Criddle MBE (born 10 May 1966) is a British para-equestrian who won three gold medals at the

2004 Summer Paralympics ) , nations = 136 , athletes = 3,806 , events = 519 in 19 sports , opening = 17 September , closing = 28 September , opened_by = President Costis Stephanopoulos , cauldron = Georgios Toptsis , stadium = Olympic ...

and three medals at the

2012 Summer Paralympics The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Summer Paralympic Gam ...

Personal life

Criddle was born on 10 May 1966 in Taunton, Somerset, England. She lost the use of her right arm and right leg following a motorcycle accident in 1985, eventually having the arm amputated in 2003. As a result, she competes in the grade III Paralympic classification.

Equestrianism

Criddle first competed at the

Paralympics The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaired ...

at the 2000 Games held in Sydney, where she finished eighth in the individual grade III event and fourth in the freestyle grade III. She won individual, freestyle and team gold medals at both the 2001 European Championships and the 2003 World Championships. At the

in Athens, Greece, she won three gold medals. Riding the Nina Venables owned horse Figaro IX she won the individual and freestyle grade III events and was a part of Great Britain's victorious squad in the team championship. This made her and Figaro the first horse and rider combination to have won triple gold at consecutive European, World and Paralympic Games. At the

2008 Summer Paralympics The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games (), the 13th Summer Paralympic Games, took place in Beijing, China from September 6 to 17, 2008. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, equestrian events were held in Hong Kong and sailing events in Qingdao. It was ...

in Beijing, China, she was selected to compete as an individual rider and she finished fifth in the individual and fourth in the freestyle. She was selected as part of the dressage squad for Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, United Kingdom. Riding LJT Akilles she won a silver medal in the grade III individual event with a score of 71.267%, finishing behind Germany's gold medallist Hannalore Brenner who scored 73.467%, despite having to ask the judges for directions. Criddle's result helped to secure a gold medal for the British squad, which also included

Sophie Christiansen Sophie Margaret Christiansen, CBE (born 14 November 1987) is an English equestrian who has competed in four successive Paralympic Games. In 2012 and 2016 she gained three gold medals at the Paralympics.Lee Pearson Sir David Lee Pearson (born 4 February 1974) is a 14-times Paralympic Games gold medallist, having represented British para-equestrianism in Sydney, Athens, Beijing, London, Rio, and Tokyo. Over the course of his career he has won 30 gold med ...

and Sophie Wells, in the team championship. She won her third medal of the 2012 Paralympics, a silver, in the freestyle grade III, on 4 September. Criddle was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the

2013 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2013 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Hon ...

for services to equestrianism.
Cabinet Office

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Criddle, Deborah Living people Sportspeople from Taunton Paralympic equestrians of Great Britain Equestrians at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Members of the Order of the British Empire Paralympic gold medalists for Great Britain Paralympic silver medalists for Great Britain Equestrians at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Equestrians at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Equestrians at the 2008 Summer Paralympics 1966 births Medalists at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Paralympic medalists in equestrian

Personal life

Equestrianism

See also

References