She is studying business administration at the University of Oldenburg - and won the silver medal at the Olympic Games in London on 7 August: we spoke to Kristina Sprehe about her medal success and the challenge of combining top-class sport and studies.
QUESTION: Mrs Sprehe, you won the silver medal with the German team in the Grand Prix Special dressage competition. The Olympic Games have now been over for eight weeks. Has the medal changed your life?
SPREHE: My life hasn't really changed. It's just become a bit more restless. Lots of invitations and a lot of press work are now waiting for me.
QUESTION: For outsiders: What is the fascination of dressage riding - apart from the fact that it looks incredibly aesthetic?
SPREHE: The daily work with the horses is something very special. I find it fascinating to use the finest aids and impulses to call up lessons from the horse. The more invisible the aids are to the outsider, the better.
QUESTION: The Olympic Games are always a particularly tense time for athletes. Was it the same for you?
SPREHE:Definitely. The nervous strain was much higher than usual.
QUESTION: You won the medal on Desperados, your Hanoverian stallion. Did he realise that it was a special tournament?
SPREHE: Desperados certainly didn't realise that it was the Olympic Games. But Deperados is a highly sensitive animal and sensed that the competition was taking place in a huge stadium with several thousand spectators. I also noticed that the horse was more attentive than usual. And that was a good thing.
QUESTION: Were you able to experience a bit of the "Olympic spirit" away from your competition?
SPREHE: Of course! The dressage team lived in the Olympic Village. We had contact with athletes from all over the world. It really was a very special experience, as we are usually only amongst ourselves as riders. In London, we had the opportunity to watch sporting events such as hockey, lead athletics and gymnastics. So we were right in the middle of the action.
QUESTION: What was more exciting, the medal ceremony or the interview with Kristin Otto on ZDF?
SPREHE: I had to give so many interviews that by the end I didn't even know who was standing in front of me. The medal ceremony in this huge stadium was breathtaking. At that moment, you realise what you have worked for almost every day for 15 years.
QUESTION: You have been studying Business Administration at university for three years. Dressage is an extremely time-consuming and training-intensive sport. How can you reconcile the two?
SPREHE: I usually travelled to training in the morning. I had lectures in the afternoon. Or vice versa. The journey between Hagen am Teutoburger Wald - where I train - and Oldenburg was often quite exhausting. But somehow it always worked out. I'm currently working on my Bachelor's thesis. And fortunately, I can write most of it from home.
QUESTION: What do you want to do after your bachelor's thesis?
SPREHE: Basically, I would like to try and get a job. However, I am aware that professional riding - as I have been doing for the last year - is very difficult to combine with an academic appointment. I think that I will tackle a Master's degree after my Bachelor's - but this will be more of a distance learning programme.
