Liselott LINSENHOFF

Liselott Linsenhoff won five Olympic medals in dressage, including a team gold in 1968 and an individual gold in 1972 – the first woman gold medalist ever in this discipline. She also won two medals in 1956 – a team silver and individual bronze, and two in 1972, adding a team silver to her individual gold. Both her gold medals came riding the famous Swedish stallion, Piaff. At the World Championships, Linsenhoff was a member of the winning dressage team in 1974 and placed second in the individual events in 1970 and 1974. She was also individual European Champion in 1969 and 1971 and was a member of the winning team in 1973. Her daugther, Ann-Kathrin, became a West German Olympian Champion in equestrian sport in 1988.

Liselott also was the daughter of Albert Schindling, the owner of VDO, which produced tachometers, and of the racing stable, Asta. She lived in Taunus and was the most important German dressage rider beside Josef Neckermann. In 1975 the family moved to Switzerland for business reasons, which led to run-ins with German financial authorities, who tried to recover 30 million German marks from her. Angered by these proceedings, she retired during her preparations for the 1976 Montréal Olympics.