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Medal record | ||
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Representing Great Britain | ||
Equestrian – Dressage | ||
Olympic Games | ||
2012 Olympic Games |
Team Dressage (with Mistral Højris) |
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2012 Olympic Games |
Individual Dressage (with Mistral Højris) |
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World Championships | ||
2010 Kentucky | Team – Grand Prix (with Mistral Højris) |
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2010 Kentucky | Individual – Grand Prix Special (with Mistral Højris) |
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2010 Kentucky | Individual – Grand Prix Freestyle (with Mistral Højris) |
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European Championships | ||
2011 Rotterdam | Team – Grand Prix (with Mistral Højris) |
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2009 Windsor | Team – Grand Prix (with Mistral Højris) |
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2009 Windsor | Individual – Grand Prix Special (with Mistral Højris) |
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2011 Rotterdam | Individual – Grand Prix Special (with Mistral Højris) |
Laura Tomlinson (née Bechtolsheimer) MBE (born 31 January 1985, in Mainz, Germany) is a German-born British dressage rider competing at Olympic level. As of 30 June 2012 the Fédération Équestre Internationale (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 in London; gold for Great Britain in the team dressage with Carl Hester and Charlotte Dujardin, the first ever Olympic team gold in the discipline for her country, and bronze in the individual dressage behind gold medalist and compatriot Dujardin.
A granddaughter of the German billionaire property magnate Karl-Heinz Kipp who founded the Massa chain of department stores, Bechtolsheimer was born in Mainz, Germany in 1985 to German parents Wilfried, an entrepreneur and horse trainer, and Ursula. She has three brothers, Felix, a singer with rock group Hey Negrita who battled heroin addiction and now tours prisons helping others, Goetz, and Till. The family moved to Ampney St Peter in Gloucestershire when she was one.
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 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.