Sophie Wells

Injury, Covid and a green newcomer – it’s been a rocky road for Paralympic star Sophie Wells. Gemma Redrup finds out how she’s turned her luck around

- Gemma Redrup

THE Paralympic motto is “Spirit in Motion”, and for para dressage rider Sophie Wells this motto could not be a truer representation of her grit and determination throughout what has been an incredibly tricky year for her.

Sophie has just returned from the Tokyo Games with a team gold and individual silver medal. She was red-hot favourite to add to her tally of gold medals aboard C Fatal Attraction, or “Jorge” as the 14-year-old is known at home, the horse with whom she won two golds and a silver at the Tryon World Games. But a hind suspensory injury, compounded by an abscess, put paid to that dream, and the timing couldn’t have been more frustrating for Sophie.

“I was hoping that Tokyo would be Jorge’s last para championship and then we could go and compete at grand prix level,” she explains. “It happens to so many people who work hard with horses and get to an ultimate goal and then it’s taken away just before you do it.”

The decision to swap Tokyo horses came virtually at the last minute, when both horses were in quarantine.

“It’s not the most relaxing point just before going into a Games without knowing for sure which horse you are going to take,” Sophie says matter-of-factly. “Ultimately Jorge made the decision for us – he felt amazing test riding in front of the selectors in quarantine, and then he got an abscess, which tracked up his leg as an infection.”