Laura Tomlinson

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

(''née'' Bechtolsheimer; born 31 January 1985, in

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main (river), Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-we ...

, Germany) is a

German-British Germans in the United Kingdom form one of the largest minority groups in the country. Today, there are many Germans living in the United Kingdom, and many Britons or ''German British'' () have German ancestry, including the British royal family. ...

dressage Dressage ( or ; a French term, most commonly translated to mean "training") is a form of horse riding performed in exhibition and competition, as well as an art sometimes pursued solely for the sake of mastery. As an equestrian sport defined b ...

rider competing at

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

level. As of 30 June 2012 the

Fédération Équestre Internationale The International Federation for Equestrian Sports (, FEI) is the international governing body of equestrian sports. The FEI headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland. An FEI code of conduct protects the welfare of the horses from physical abu ...

(FEI) ranked her 3rd in the world riding Mistral Højris and 36th on Andretti H. In that year, Tomlinson, riding Mistral Højris under her maiden name of Laura Bechtolsheimer, won two medals in the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

in London; gold for Great Britain in the team dressage with

Carl Hester Carl Hester (born 29 June 1967 in Cambridgeshire, England) is a British dressage rider competing at Olympic level. As of 8 August 2012 the Fédération Équestre Internationale (FEI) rank him 12th in the world riding Uthopia. In 2012, Hester f ...

and

Charlotte Dujardin Charlotte Susan Jane Dujardin (born 13 July 1985) is a British dressage rider, equestrian and writer. A multiple World and Olympic champion, Dujardin has been described as the dominant dressage rider of her era. She held the complete set of ava ...

, the first ever Olympic team gold in the discipline for her country, and bronze in the individual dressage behind gold medalist and compatriot Dujardin.

Early life

A granddaughter of the German billionaire property magnate Karl-Heinz Kipp who founded the Massa chain of department stores, Bechtolsheimer was born in

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

in 1985 to

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

parents Wilfried, an entrepreneur and horse trainer, and

Ursula Bechtolsheimer-Kipp Ursula Bechtolsheimer-Kipp (born November 1951) is a German-born billionaire, businesswomen and heiress. Bechtolsheimer-Kipp is the only daughter of German retail tycoon Karl-Heinz Kipp, founder of the Massa department store chain. After her f ...

. She has three brothers, Felix, a singer formerly with rock group Hey Negrita and now with

Curse of Lono Curse of Lono is an English alternative rock band based in London and signed to Submarine Cat Records. They have released one Extended play, EP and two studio albums. Their most recent album, ''As I Fell'', peaked at number 10 on the Official A ...

, Goetz, and Till, a businessman and amateur racing driver who competes in the

2021 IMSA SportsCar Championship The 2021 IMSA SportsCar Championship was the 51st racing season sanctioned by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) which traces its lineage back to the 1971 IMSA GT Championship. This was also the eighth United SportsCar Championsh ...

. The family moved to Ampney St Peter in

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

when she was one.

Career

Bechtolsheimer started riding aged three having been given a pony called Peacock for her birthday. She went on to compete in Pony Club eventing and won the National Championships of Independent Schools at

Stonar School Stonar School, founded in 1895, is a non-denominational UK independent day and boarding school, at Cottles Park, near Atworth, Wiltshire, south-west England. The school occupies 80 acres of parkland and gardens in a location about 8 miles from ...

aged 12. Bechtolsheimer attended St Marys Calne school in Wiltshire, and started to concentrate on dressage aged 13. She was selected to ride at the Pony European Championship the following season, winning a team silver medal at her first major competition. In 2005, Bechtolsheimer became the youngest British dressage champion at age 20, riding Douglas Dorsey. She graduated from

Bristol University , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...

in 2007 with a

BSc A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

in Philosophy and Politics. She competed in the 2008 Olympic Games on Mistral Højris, gaining 18th place in the Individual Grand Prix Special and 6th place in the team event and was named as British Dressage's Rider of the Year. At the

2010 FEI World Equestrian Games The 2010 FEI World Equestrian Games (officially the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games) were held at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky, U.S. from September 25 to October 10, 2010. This was the sixth edition of the games, which ar ...

held in

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

, United States, Bechtolsheimer surpassed her personal best scores and gained three British International Grand Prix records with Mistral Højris getting 82.511% in the Grand Prix, 81.708% in the Grand Prix Special and 85.350% in the Grand Prix Freestyle, gaining her three silver medals, being beaten only by the celebrated Edward Gal and

Totilas Totilas (23 May 200014 December 2020), also known from 2006 to 2011 as Moorlands Totilas, and nicknamed "Toto", was a Dutch Warmblood stallion standing high who was considered to be one of the most outstanding competitive dress ...

. In 2012 Bechtolsheimer, who scored 80.550%,

and

won the gold medal in the Olympic team dressage event. She went on to win bronze in the

individual An individual is that which exists as a distinct entity. Individuality (or self-hood) is the state or quality of being an individual; particularly (in the case of humans) of being a person unique from other people and possessing one's own Maslow ...

event with her freestyle routine, set to music from The Lion King. In 2016, she rode Rosalie B at the

Olympia London International Horse Show Olympia London International Horse Show is one of the UK's biggest equestrian competitions, held at Olympia, London. It is best known for its showjumping, however it also has competitions in horse showing, driving, mounted games, dog agility and m ...

. It was the first outing for the mare on British soil and followed a strong performance at the German CDI Oldenburg, where they won the grand prix special with 75.88%. She was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(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. Outside of her dressage activities, Bechtolsheimer is a presenter for equine video website HorseHero.com and is considering a career in

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. P ...

and

marketing Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...

Notable Horses

* Douglas Dorsey - 1991 Chestnut Hanoverian Gelding (Donnerhall x Salem) ** 2004 European Young Riders Championships - Team Bronze Medal, Individual Fifth Place, Individual Fourth Place Freestyle ** 2006 FEI World Cup Final - 14th Place ** 2006 World Equestrian Games - Team Sixth Place, Individual 21st Place * Mistral Højris - 1995 Chestnut Danish Warmblood Gelding (Michellino x Ibsen) ** 2007 European Championships - Team Fifth Place, Individual 20th Place ** 2008 Beijing Olympics - Team Fifth Place, Individual 17th Place ** 2009 European Championships - Team Silver Medal, Individual Bronze Medal, Individual Fourth Place Freestyle ** 2010 World Equestrian Games - Team Silver Medal, Individual Silver Medal, Individual Silver Medal Freestyle ** 2011 European Championships - Team Gold Medal, Individual Silver Medal, Individual Fourth Place Freestyle ** 2012 London Olympics - Team Gold Medal, Individual Bronze Medal

Personal life

Bechtolsheimer married professional

polo Polo is a ball game played on horseback, a traditional field sport and one of the world's oldest known team sports. The game is played by two opposing teams with the objective of scoring using a long-handled wooden mallet to hit a small hard ...

player Mark Tomlinson. The couple have three children (Annalisa, Wilfred and Hanni) and were expecting a fourth as of 2021.

References

External links

– Biographies �
Bechtolsheimer, Laura
* British Dressage – Official Rider Biography �
Laura Bechtolsheimer
* HorseHero �
Laura Bechtolsheimer

Laura Tomlinson's web site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tomlinson, Laura Living people 1985 births British dressage riders Sportspeople from Mainz German emigrants to England Equestrians at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic equestrians for Great Britain English female equestrians Equestrians at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medallists for Great Britain Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain Olympic medalists in equestrian Alumni of the University of Bristol Members of the Order of the British Empire People educated at St Mary's School, Calne Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics German female equestrians People from Cotswold District Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom