Equestrian Anne Dunham welcomed to Paralympians' reception at Westminster
Claire Perry with Anne Dunham Claire Perry MP was delighted to meet Anne Dunham, equestrian Paralympian at a reception to honour Team GB's Paralympian heroes in Westminster.
Anne, aged 68 and Team GB’s oldest Paralympian, lives in Worton (just south of Devizes) and won three Paralympic dressage medals in Rio with her horse LJT Lucas Normark. She has now won 10 Paralympic medals over five different games.
Anne was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at the age of 27 - shortly after her daughter Amber was born. She has used a wheelchair since the age of 30.
In Rio she was entered in four events and won gold with the British team (alongside Sophie Christiansen, Natasha Baker and Sophie Wells.) And she won silver medals in the Equestrian Individual Championship test - Grade 1A and in the Equestrian Individual Freestyle Test - Grade 1A.
Claire Perry said: “It was an absolute honour to welcome Anne, and her Paralympian team mates to Westminster and I remain in total awe at her dedication, commitment and the scale of her achievements.”
Anne Dunham's own heroes are British riders Carl Hester and Pammy Hutton. And she lives by her motto: "You only get out of life what you put into it."
When she took gold at the Beijing Olympics she became the first British athlete to win gold at four consecutive Paralympic Games. She was awarded an M.B.E. in 2009.
She first tried riding when she was eight. Anne was always around horses and as a young girl joined the Horse Ranger Association. While she was at school, Anne worked at a local stable in her spare time and, by the time she was 16, she was helping to run a yard of 80 horses at weekends.
It was only after her husband sold his business that she could own her own horse and could start competing. She was then 40.