The girl from yesterday who took Sri Lanka to Europe plans and dreams bigger for the land of her birth that showcased the island’s first show-jumper:
Mathilda Karlsson is rekindling her dreams of bringing fame and fortune to Sri Lanka at the Asian Games in equestrian by shrugging off the disappointment of failing to complete the routine in her event at the Tokyo Olympics last year. Having created history becoming the first Sri Lankan to compete in equestrian in the modern Olympics, it was an anti-climax when her horse Chopin VA stopped dead in his tracks at the eighth hurdle. The Swedish show-jumper who switched nationality to her country of birth in 2018, captured the imagination of a nation when she became the first athlete to qualify for the 2020 Games.
After being disqualified by the world equestrian body FEI who took away her ranking points which was reinstated after appealing to the CAS (Court of Arbitration for Sport), it must have been a traumatic experience overall for a dusky little girl from Sri Lanka in the biggest stage of all. She had set herself realistic goals at the Olympics but stage-fright and mistakes both by the horse and rider ended her fairy-tale dream. Wiser by the experience, Mathilda is determined to showcase her skills at the 2022 Hangzhou Games in China in September. Before that her target is to qualify for the FEI World Equestrian Games which will be held in Denmark in August.
In her first visit to Sri Lanka since 2020 emerging like the fabled Cinderella who became a Princess after being adopted by Swedish parents, Mathilda bared her soul on the trials she underwent during her Olympic journey. In a heart-warming interview with the Sunday Observer she spoke of her love for horses, her visit to the Yala National Park and her dreams and ambitions for Sri Lanka in equestrian.
“Basically I was just officially qualified for two weeks and then they took it away. For me it was personally very disappointing that someone tried to take it away when I knew I was doing everything correctly. I think that was the hardest part,” she said of her qualification setback.
“Actually that made us much stronger in the end. We learnt to appreciate the fact that we were going because we had to work so hard. I think it never comes easy to qualify for the Olympics but we had to fight a little bit more. That made us just want it really much,” said Mathilda, who first went to the FEI tribunal before going to the CAS.
“Honestly if the Olympics wasn’t postponed, I would never have got the time to go to CAS. Corona was terrible for everyone but the postponement for me personally was a blessing,” said Mathilda who herself tested positive.
“I did get infected but I didn’t get affected. For me it was not bad. I had to be in quarantine for 10 days which was quite relaxing,” she quipped.
Her visit to Sri Lanka was made possible by SriLankan airlines and Cinnamon Hotel Group. “I’m super thankful for the support from SriLankan airlines also for all the upcoming trips. I am very happy that they want to support me. That was also a reason why I wanted to fly with them. Also Cinnamon Hotel group who sponsored the stay,” said Mathilda who is eager to visit Sri Lanka more often.
“I want to be here more, see the people, engage more. I do interviews, do zoom calls with Sri Lankan officials but you want to have a personal connection. I think it’s definitely important to come at least once a year. Last year it wasn’t possible. This year we can make it happen,” said Mathilda who was accompanied by her mom Mona Lis this time.
GOAL
She is excited about competing in the 2022 Asian Games having missed out in 2018. “Major goal for sure is the Asian Games which I’m very excited about. I did the switch in 2018 and then it was too late. I didn’t really have the Asian Games on my schedule. I’m very excited honestly also because I know I will have a real chance,” she said, her eyes gleaming. The bar at the Olympics is 170cm while it is lower (150cm) at the Asian Games.
“The Olympics just to qualify was a major thing. I knew I would not probably get a medal to be realistic. But to collect a lot of routine experience and help me get better in the future, that was amazing. For the Asian Games I am going for a medal. Gold for sure,” she declared confidently though her biggest rival competitor will be from Japan.
“Unfortunately, Chopin is not going to be the main horse for the Asian Games. He got a slight injury in his hoof when we came back from Tokyo. We also have the World Championships in August,” she said of her preparations.
NANO-SECOND
“I think it was just a lack of routine. We were just overwhelmed by expectations. He had no problem with water but I think it was just everything around it. I was early in the class being number 13 (out of 75). If it had been a little later, I would have added one stride to the vertical where he stopped,” she said of her Olympic ride.
“You have like a nano-second to decide. You walked the course before the event. You know exactly how many metres between every hurdle. You know your horse and you make a plan. You have enough time to go through but then something always happens. You need to be able to change this. It’s only a nano-second that you can actually decide and do what you think is right,” she explained.
“Everything started really well. Then he did this massive jump over the jump before he stopped. It was really high and that made him land a little bit short and a little bit dead. He jumped almost two metres up in the air,” she said.
“In that second, I should have thought now we lost the speed because he landed a little bit heavy. Now I need to add one more. I need to do six steps. I had already made a plan but in that second when I landed I should have just said this is not working and changed the plan. But I went for the plan that I had already before. Before me most people did five and I didn’t know afterwards seeing all the riders, a lot of people after me changed their plans to do six (strides),” she said.
“He was very smart. He stopped. I could have pushed him more but he is a very brave horse. That was definitely my mistake, it wasn’t his,” said Mathilda who was looking at the clock as well.
“It (time) was always going to be my issue. I had to speed up and I knew I had to be faster than I normally ride. I think that also made him a little bit insecure,” she added.
“This year I don’t want to find any excuses but we need to learn from the mistakes made. I went to get the experience. If you never go, you will never learn. You will always make the same mistakes again. I know a lot of things I would do differently in Paris (2028 Olympics) if I could qualify,” she said.
“I didn’t know why everybody was talking about the Olympics so much. Now I know. It’s amazing. Honestly it was the experience of a lifetime,” she said.
“I was very disappointed about the results. For sure I did not expect that to happen. It’s so many athletes. You are one of the best in your sport in the world. It’s only three people that can get a medal and one that can win. Just to be among 75 best riders, it’s just incredible,” she said.
PARIS
She has also set her sights on qualifying for the Paris Games. “Chopin will be 15 and he will get a lot of experience in two years now. He was 12 last year. That is a good age for a horse but we lost almost one year because of Covid and also taking away qualifications. With his experience, I think the outcome will be totally different,” she said.
Mathilda will also have a tilt at the World Championship having qualified with her old mare Apollonia in 2018. “My horse was old at the time while Chopin was too young to do a championship at that time. This time I am going with a different horse,” she said because Chopin cannot do two championships in a row.
“He is still not back in the sport. He will come with me in three weeks to Spain to start getting ready for the season. In spring I go to Spain a lot where I can ride outdoors and the weather is really fantastic and facilities are amazing . I have my stable in Hamburg but it’s really cold there during the winter,” she said.
MOTIVATION
Contrary to the views of critics, Mathilda lauded Sports Minister Namal Rajapaksa’s gesture to spur the Olympians with Rs 2 million even before they went to Tokyo last July.
“I think it is better to actually give it before because they’ll be very motivated anyhow. It doesn’t matter whether sponsors are involved because you want to be the best you can be. I know how big expenses are, especially if you are travelling with a horse. You can imagine how expensive that is with the people needed to support my horse,” she said.
“Honestly he is the athlete. He is the one who needs to have a special training programme. He has his physio, he has his vet, he has his blacksmith, he has his groom. I have my trainer, that’s it!” said Mathilda.
“You are nothing without your horse. As equestrians we need to take the best care of our horses just to make sure that they are feeling great. That they are happy, that they are sound. It’s the most important thing for us to check on them to make sure that they have everything that they need because we cannot do big competitions without our horse being really happy,” she said.
“My horse is 800 kilos. If he doesn’t want to jump, I cannot make him. He needs to be happy. He needs to enjoy it just as much as I do. So we are a team. I am nothing without him,” reiterated Mathida.
SRI LANKA
“I see all the attention and all the responses that I get on social media. It really warms my heart to see that I can represent a new sport for a country. Young girls who want to become an equestrian probably didn’t know what a show-jumper or equestrian was a couple of months ago. That is really nice,” she said of her following in Sri Lanka.
“Obviously, I have the passion for this sport. It is everything for me. I would love to help to see if we can maybe create an exchange system programme to maybe bring some riders over to Europe for a couple of weeks or months just to see what we are actually doing,” she said.
She plans to make people aware that there is a sport called equestrian where there is showjumping and it is an Olympic sport. “It’s very important to slowly create something here in Sri Lanka. Also to give young people the opportunity to really learn how to ride well, take care of horses. The Premadasa family has a very nice facility,” she said.
Mathilda feels love for horses should come first before the sport. “We live for the horses 24 x 7. They need to be taken care of. It’s not like you have a football and then you put it in the drawer. Or you put your car in the garage and then you go home. You need to be there all the time to know them very well,” she said.
“It is important to get the experience as young as you can in every sport. To be able to ride bareback, be more naïve in a way. You are just not afraid. That’s how you learn to be with your horse, know what is good and what is bad and get experience,” said Mathilda who has been riding since she was six though becoming a professional comparatively late in her life.
“I have been riding all my life but I never thought that I would be an international show jumper. I love to be around horses. I knew my life would be something with horses but I never thought myself actually riding on this level,” said Mathilda, 37, who competed in the Global Champions League in 2017. Her Olympic dream was born when she went to big shows around the world.
“There is nowhere that the sport is bigger than at the Global Champions Tour. If you can do this you can do the Olympics. At first I struggled obviously also in the Tour but then I started doing well and then I said I can actually do this,” she said on what sparked her Olympic dream.
SWEDEN
She was fortunate to have grown up in Sweden and have a very good equestrian programme that produces Olympic champions.
“I didn’t know what the reaction would be. For sure it was a big decision from my side. It wasn’t easy because I have been growing up in Sweden. All the teammates riding in the Swedish team are my friends,” she said of their reactions to her representing Sri Lanka.
“I know a lot of newspapers in Sweden said we have a fifth rider going. They had four riders going but actually in their heart they felt they had five. The Sweden team supported us a lot,” she said.
As an international show-jumper, Mathilda lauded the International Olympic Committee’s decision to axe Modern Pentathlon which includes equestrian showjumping as a core Olympic discipline from the 2028 programme. “They have 20 minutes to get to know the animal. We take years as equestrians to get to know your partner to go to a championship. It’s the right decision to take that away,” she said.
Asked for her expectations from Sri Lanka, she said: “I couldn’t have got more support from the whole country, from the NOC (National Olympic Committee), (Suranjith) Premadasa (President of the Sri Lanka Equestrian Association). The support was unbelievable. The lack of experience was definitely there. There were a lot of mistakes but the support I got could not have been better. For Paris I am sure we will do a lot of things differently. It was new for me, new for them all. We all learned a lot during this experience.”
FLAG-BEARER
Mathilda was also gearing up to be Sri Lanka’s flag-bearer at the Games. “I thought that was the plan. I was hoping to carry the flag actually at the closing ceremony. I actually offered to stay extra if they wanted me to carry the flag. I would have loved to do it,” she said.
She has certainly put Sri Lanka on the map in Europe. “A lot of people didn’t know where Sri Lanka was on the map. I know for sure me representing Sri Lanka in the Olympics opened up a little bit to the world. A lot of people were very curious to get to know and to fly here and see the country to meet the people in Sri Lanka which I think is fantastic because I think everyone should come and visit this beautiful island,” she said.
“Yala was absolutely amazing. What an experience with all the wild animals. But also the people was unbelievable friendly and helpful. Cinnamon Hotels really impressed me by their excellent services and friendly staff,” said Mathilda whose wish to see a leopard was fulfilled.
Asked how it feels being an Olympian, she said: “It feels unreal still.” But she gets thrilled to be presented as Mathilda Karlsson Olympian rider from Sri Lanka every time she goes for a competition. She is certainly doing more for Sri Lanka as a brand ambassador in Europe.