Road to Paris 2018: Edwina Tops-Alexander

Our focus is on the only woman qualified for the World Cup Jumping Final in Paris: Edwina Tops-Alexander, who has come out on top again after having a baby, Chloe, in July 2017. 
She lives between Montecarlo, where she lives, and Valkenswaard where she trains her horses in the equestrian centre owned by his husband, Jan Tops.
Nicknamed Weenie, she attained a Bachelor of Physical Education at the Australian College of Physical Education in 1995.
The same year she moved to Europe, first to Belgium in order to improve her experience and make a career out of showjumping. She had planned to remain there only for six months but then she came back again in 1999 and rode for three years with Belgium star Ludo Philippaerts.
In 2003 she moved to the Netherlands and joined Stal Tops Valkenswaard, the centre of his future husband.
She revealed that before she arrived in Europe, she had no idea of how it would be the showjumping industry outside Australia, since at that time there was no internet and the only info she could have came from the specialised press she was reading in bulk. Once there, she had to face a big change in his life style, since she was always travelling.
Among her most important successes are the two consecutive overall titles achieved in the Longines Global Champions Tour (in 2011 and 2012) and the three-time nomination as Australian Rider of the Year, in 1997, 2006 and 2007.
Edwina Tops-Alexander also broke many records: in 2006 she qualified for the final at the World Equestrian Games (WEG) in Aachen and put her name into the history books as the first female to do so. Two years later she clinched the 5* Grand Prix in Zurig, Switzerland and she was again the first horsewoman.WOMEN’S RIDING ACCORDING TO EDWINA TOPS-ALEXANDER
As we already pointed out, Edwina will be the only woman in the show jumping to be admitted in the World Cup Final in Paris. It has not been a great indoor season for the horsewomen, but Edwina believes that being female is often an advantage in this sport: women always look more harmonious and graceful first of all for their sensivity and then for their lightness on the saddle. They manage to fit better the gait of the horse, who is the real athlete.RIO 2016Edwina Tops-Alexander was selected for Rio 2016, her third Summer Olympics. She came close to challenging for a medal. She finished equal ninth at the individual show jumping after knocking one rail in the final round of competition atop of Holsteiner Lintea Tequila.
ALWAYS ON THE MOVE
Jan Tops, Founder and President of the Longines Global Champions Tour, is one of the most well-recognised and experienced figures in show jumping. Shortly after winning Olympic Gold in Barcelona, he launched CSI Valkenswaard and turned it into one of the best horse shows on the international equestrian scene. But his vision and goal was to comprehensively raise standards across the whole sport, so in 2006 he launched the Global Champions Tour and transformed the world of international show jumping. In February 2018, along with his wife Edwina, he announced a new show jumping circuit dedicated to young riders in Australia: the Tops Australian Young Riders Series, a total of four legs organised at the most beautiful competitions of the country. The series will start with the AQUIS Champions Tour at Elysian Fields in May and finish with the Summer Classic at SIEC in December. There will be a total prize money pool over the four classes of 20,000 dollars. Edwina took part to three Summer Olympics, 4 World Cups, 9 World Cup Finals (her tenth will be in Paris) and 10 Global Champions Tour Finals, winning two consecutive titles.
She got the qualification to Paris 2018 thanks to 58 points in the overall standing and a third place. Source: fei results, fei biographiesPhoto: Longines FEI World Cup™ La Coruna Winner Edwina Tops-Alexander AUS riding California
Photo FEI/Manuel Queimadelos
(MC)