Natasha Baker and Dawn Chorus (“Lottie”) brought the curtain down on what has been a redemptive, and cathartic day for British para dressage, winning bronze in the grade III freestyle at the Paris Paralympics.
Natasha scored 77.14% to collect the 10th medal of her Paralympic career. That brings Britain’s final medal haul from the Games to seven – six bronzes, and one silver.
She entered the arena to a raucous atmosphere. Despite the big screens asking for silence after each test, everyone was on their feet, applauding, stomping and cheering for French rider Chiara Zenati, who rode just before Natasha. It was phenomenal to watch, and the competition was all the better for it – it was a fantastic advertisement for para dressage.
“I loved every second of it,” said Natasha after her test. “The crowd were epic, I was hoping that might lift her a bit, I was like ‘Come on Lottie, this is your moment, soak it all up!’
“The freestyle is the thing I’ve been most looking forward to all week and she was amazing, I’m so grateful for all the opportunities she’s given me over the years.
“I think maybe her way of going was a bit better yesterday. We got 80% in the build up to Paris and I was hoping for something closer to that today, but she felt a little tired.
“I could have maybe done with a bit more pizzazz – but it’s always a fine line because you don’t want so much that they bubble over.”
At this point in the interview Natasha wasn’t sure if she’d win a medal. It all came down to what Italy’s Francesca Salvade scored. Francesca’s test was going on while Natasha did the media rounds. There were big screens in the mixed zone but they were slightly behind the action in the arena, so there was a nervous wait.
Then a call came from the arena – “she’s behind you!” – and Natasha broke into tears.
“I’m just so happy,” she said, looking at her son Joshua who was sitting in her lap as she spoke. “I never expected it in a million years, this is for you little man.
“I just want him to look back on his mummy in 18 years time and just think ‘Wow, my mum is pretty darn cool!’
“I want to be able to show him that I had a dream when I was little, and I went out there and grabbed it, so this is for him. He’s worth more than all of my medals put together.
“Before him my whole life revolved around riding and that was all I ever focussed on – I just wanted to go out and win medals.
“But after having him, it puts everything into perspective. He’s the most important thing in my life now, he’s my proudest achievement and I’ve done this to make him proud.”
So much has gone into this comeback for Natasha, who only returned to competition after having Joshua a few months ago.
“It’s one thing for able-bodied athletes to go and have babies and come back, but as a para athlete you never now how pregnancy is going to treat you.
“But I’ve always had Paris in the forefront of my mind, I always wanted to come here. I knew it was going to be a mission, probably a naive mission, to get here but I’ve managed it and picked up two medals along the way.
“Now, I want another baby and then we’ll see what happens. I think this might be Lottie’s last Paralympics, she’s 13-years-old so she could make LA, but we’ll see how it goes.
“If it happens again I’ll be really, really blessed, but right now I honestly don’t know – I just want to expand the crop!”
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