Lee Pearson OBE

Lee Pearson OBE, Paralympic equestrian

Lee is the World’s most successful Paralympic dressage rider and has amassed a total of 24 Gold medals since starting Paralympic dressage competitions in 1998.

Lee has a condition called arthrogryposis, which means his muscles hadn’t grow correctly when in the womb. As a child, he had to have 15 operations and does not have mobility in his ankles or knees and restricted movement in all of his other limbs.

Lee started riding ponies as a child because he was unable to join his brothers on their BMX adventures. He began taking lessons at a riding school from the age of just eight years old and realised that this was a sport that enabled him to fully participate and give him a huge amount of freedom. It wasn’t long before his parents had bought him a donkey on which to roam around the paddock.

He won three gold medals in the 2000 Sydney Paralympic Games, and repeated this success in the 2004 Athens Paralympic Games. Unbelievably, he successfully repeated the defence of his titles in the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games, winning another three gold medals. These Paralympic Games achievements, coupled with World and European Championship titles, mark a truly distinguished career that it is far from over, with Lee aiming to compete at the World Equestrian Games in Kentucky 2010 and London Paralympic Games 2012.

In recognition of his equestrian success and services to disabled sport, Lee was awarded an MBE in 2001, an OBE in 2005 and then a CBE in the 2009 New Year’s Honours list. He was also the recipient of an Honorary Doctorate from Staffordshire University in 2005.

“I’m thrilled to be part of the BT Ambassador programme and look forward to defending my titles in London 2012. Riding horses gives you the freedom and movement that you can lack when you have a disability”