Fiona Bigwood

Fiona Bigwood (born 24 April 1976) is a British dressage rider, and winner of a silver medal in the team dressage event at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Fiona Bigwood
Personal information
Born (1976-04-24) 24 April 1976
Medal record
Equestrian
Representing  Great Britain
Olympics
Silver medal – second place2016 Rio de JaneiroTeam dressage
World Championships
Silver medal – second place2010 KentuckyTeam dressage
European Championships
Silver medal – second place2015 AachenTeam dressage

Early life

Bigwood was born on 24 April 1976.[1] By the time she was 10 years old, Bigwood rode Tanya Larrigan's old Grand Prix horse Salute on lease. She soon competed at the 1993 Junior European Championships and the Young Rider European Championships.[2] As a teenager, she trained in Denmark[3] and was educated at Croydon High School.[4]

Career

In 1997, Bigwood became the youngest British rider to be selected for a Senior European Championships.[5] In the same year, she won the British National Elementary title with Afrikka and was shortlisted for the 1998 World Equestrian Games.[3] Afterwards, she competed at the 2010 World Equestrian Games and at four European Dressage Championships (in 1999, 2005, 2007 and 2015).[5] In 2014, she suffered a concussion after a fall while riding. As a result of her injury, Bigwood experiences double vision which means that she wears an eye patch while riding.[6]

Upon returning to competitions, Bigwood earned a silver medal for Great Britain in the team dressage event at the 2016 Summer Olympics.[7] However, she would later sell her silver medal winning horse "Atterupgaards Orthilia" to Danish rider Agnete Kirk Thinggaard.[8]

Personal life

She was married with three children; her ex husband, Anders Dahl, is also a dressage rider.[9]

In 2016, Bigwood and her ex-husband relocated from Bourne Hill House from Horsham in West Sussex to Brantridge Park where she is in the process of establishing a new world class an equestrian centre.[10]

Notable Horses
  • Mr G de Lully - 1993 Bay Swedish Warmblood Gelding (Gauguin de Lully x Ambassadeur)
    • 2005 European Championships - Team Fifth Place, Individual 20th Place
    • 2007 European Championships - Team Fifth Place, Individual 18th Place
  • Wie-Atlantico De Ymas - 1999 Chestnut Hanoverian Gelding (Wie Weltmeyer x Rondo)
    • 2010 World Equestrian Games - Team Silver Medal, Individual 16th Place, Individual 12th Place Freestyle
  • Atterupgaards Orthilia - 2005 Bay Oldenburg Mare (Gribaldi x Donnerschlag)
    • 2015 European Championships - Team Silver Medal, Individual Ninth Place
    • 2016 Rio Olympics - Team Silver Medal, Individual 17th Place

References
  1. "FIONA BIGWOOD". olympic.org. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  2. "WHO'S WHO". horsemagazine.com. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  3. "Westerham celebrates Fiona's dressage medal". edenbridge-chronicle.co.uk. 18 August 2016. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  4. "GDST girls to compete in Rio 2016". gdst.net. 5 August 2016. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  5. "FIONA BIGWOOD BIOGRAPHY". teamgbr2015.mosweb.co.uk. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  6. Berreth, Lindsay (12 August 2016). "Orthilia Brought Fiona Bigwood Back To The International Stage". chronofhorse.com. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  7. Baldock, Andrew (12 August 2016). "Olympics 2016: Team GB win silver medal in team dressage". standard.co.uk. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  8. "Departure of 'Tillie' is not the end for Bigwood". The Yorkshire Post. 3 February 2017. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  9. Wilkinson, John (15 August 2016). "Great Britain's Bigwood Balances Riding, Motherhood and Marriage at the Same Damn Time". horsenetwork.com. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  10. Bigwood and Dahl Sell Bourne Hill and Relocate to Brantridge Park Retrieved 2/5/21.
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