Christina Liebherr is a former show jumper who has won numerous medals and accolades during her professional career, including a bronze medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. She is a former European vice-champion and helped the Swiss jumping team to win silver at the 2005 European Championships. She last competed at international level in 2021 and announced her retirement in June 2022.
Although Liebherr represented Switzerland during her career, she was actually born in Stuttgart in then-West Germany in March 1979. She began riding when she was nine years old, and in her late teens, as she began to emerge as a promising talent, she was trained by Susanne Behring. She first made an impact in 1996 when she was part of the Swiss team that won bronze at the European Junior Championships. Two years later, she became the European Junior champion. As her riding progressed, she began to win more plaudits, being named Swiss Rookie of the Year in 2004 and Credit Suisse Newcomer of the Year in 2005. The latter was helped by her double-silver-winning performance at that year’s European Championships in San Patrignano, Italy.
Liebherr’s success in the arena peaked in 2008 when she became part of the Swiss Olympic team that won bronze in Beijing. The following year, she finished a close fourth at the World Cup finals. In 2011, her momentum was broken when her favoured horse, No Mercy, was injured. Liebherr was without a ride for 18 months but returned and began training with German star, Ludger Beerbaum. A knee injury in 2018 hampered her progress again, and she bowed out of competitive riding in 2022.
