Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum: 10 fascinating facts

In December 2004, Meredith became the first woman to top the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) world rankings
Her victory in Gothenburg earlier this year was her second World Cup final win with Shutterfly — the duo also took the honours in 2005 in Las Vegas
Despite her brilliance in the saddle, Meredith’s family had no links with horses — her father is a film director and her mother an actress
She was born in Los Angeles on Boxing Day, 1969
She won an Ivy League place reading politics at Princeton, but gave up on her degree after three years of studying in order to pursue a career with horses
In 1991, Meredith went to Germany to train with the legendary Paul Schockemöhle. She planned to stay only for the summer, but ended up taking full German citizenship after meeting Markus Beerbaum. The pair married in 1998
Meredith is the first woman to ride on a German championship show jumping team
She was crowned individual European champion at Mannheim last summer, where she helped Germany to team silver. She also won two bronze medals at the 2006 World Equestrian Games
Away from riding, Meredith enjoys sailing and scuba-diving
Although she still visits California regularly, Meredith’s adopted country has taken her to its heart and in 2005 she won the Bambi Award, the German equivalent of our Sports Personality Award

You may like...