For many of us, 2020 was not the 'best year'. Corona caused several competitions to be cancelled and we all had to go into quarantine. For Mathilda Karlsson, however, 2020 was perhaps even more dramatic: she saw an Olympic qualification go by the wayside due to a decision by the FEI and as if that was not enough, she had to deal with a major barn fire. The Sri-Lanka rider did not simply accept the FEI decision and appealed against it. The ruling ultimately turned out in her favour, which means she is now the first rider to ever represent Sri-Lanka at the Olympics: "I think I am the first rider who has been able to qualify for the same Games twice," she laughs in Knokke, where she is competing at CSI5* level. The sympathetic rider sat down with us and told us her story.
"I am especially happy that 2021 has started better than 2020," she laughed. "I think I am the first rider to succeed in qualifying for the same Games twice and, moreover, I am the first rider ever to be allowed to go to the biggest sporting event of the year for Sri-Lanka. Talk about a record," she continued. "I am very proud to represent Sri-Lanka. I was born there but was adopted as a baby and ended up in Sweden. I have always been very happy in Sweden but when I was 18, I decided to look for my roots and my family. Once I arrived in Sri Lanka, I fell completely in love with the country. The beaches, the people, the fauna and flora, ... I don't think anyone who has ever been to Sri Lanka will argue with me when I say that it is almost too good to be true".
Chopin
"Chopin is really my 'partner in crime'," the rider says of her Olympic horse. "I firmly believe that he thinks I am the best rider in the world (laughs). He was born at my home and I am actually the only rider who has ever competed him. So we know each other through and through. When you buy a horse that has jumped under a very good rider, I think sometimes the horse thinks 'what is she doing? He does everything for me and if my distance is not quite right, he probably thinks that distance was in my head from the beginning. He forgives me a lot (laughs again). No, I know he really deserves to go to the Olympics: he may believe I am the best rider in the world but I know he is one of the best horses in the world".
Olympic dream
"Despite the difficult preparation, I am really looking forward to going to the Games. I do notice how difficult it is without a federation to get everything in order. In normal circumstances riders can rely on their federation to take care of almost all the paperwork. In Sri Lanka, of course, it is not like that. I am completely on my own and that might bring some extra pressure. However, there are also advantages: for example, I was allowed to choose the national outfit, because we didn't have that yet. I hope I will do very well at the Olympics and thus be able to motivate other riders from Asia to start riding as well. I want to show them that nothing is impossible. I wanted this so badly that I did not give up despite all the setbacks and I hope that I will also reap the benefits in Tokyo".
"Of course the preparation is not optimal. I am jumping my first CSI5* competition after the Corona stop this weekend. I think the Americans might have an advantage at the Olympics because they were able to jump almost constantly at a higher level. As for the European riders, we are all in the same situation, I am already very happy to be back at the highest level this weekend. My 'road to Tokyo' has really started now and I am determined to make my home country proud," she concludes.