I KNEW I’D ONE DAY HOLD MY OWN MEDAL

DRESSAGE rider Natasha Baker MBE, 31, lives with her fiance, Marc Jaconelli, 29, who owns a car-detailing business, in Uxbridge, West London, near her parents Phil, 62, and Lorraine, 60. Her first event will be the individual test grade III final on August 27 at 11.22am. COMING from a horsey family, Natasha was destined to ride. But at 14 months old, the disorder transverse myelitis left her with permanent nerve damage, loss of balance and sensation, and severe weakness in her legs. ‘If she was sitting here and you said to her, “Any regrets?” she would say, “I would not be here today if it had not happened to me,” ’ says her father, Phil. Success is a family business: her mother, Lorraine, is her international groom and is in

Tokyo with her, while Phil, a former engineer, works at the yard full-time. ‘Natasha used to go to the Riding for the Disabled Association,’ says Phil. ‘One day Lee Pearson [that’s Sir Lee Pearson, winner of 11 Paralympic equestrian gold medals] came to the yard and said to Natasha, “Would you like to hold my medal?” She said, “No thanks, I will hold my own one day.” Now they’re sitting together on the plane.’ At London 2012, Natasha won two golds, and at Rio she claimed a

hat-trick. This year, she is going for gold again. Phil describes being with his wife and crying with pride at their daughter’s achievements: ‘I get too emotional,’ he says. Win or lose, there’s lots to look forward to when Team Baker reunite after the competition. ‘We’ve got a wedding to plan for March,’ says Natasha’s fiance, Marc. ‘She’s almost more excited to come back and do that.’