Sri Lanka’s first and only Olympic equestrian and showjumper Mathilda Thanuja Karlsson is a Sri Lankan-born Swedish equestrian athlete. She competed for Sweden until 2018 and later in the same year she switched to her native country. In 2021, she qualified as an individual rider for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, being the first Sri Lankan equestrian at the Olympic Games. She also became the first Sri Lankan to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. 

Karlsson currently lives in Hamburg, Germany where she runs and manages her equestrian business Grönwohldhof with her partner Manfred von Allwörden, training and breeding horses.

Karlsson is back in action after a short break and yearns to bring glory to Sri Lanka in a sport where Sri Lankan athletes have never stepped foot on the global stage before. In this interview with The Sunday Morning Sports, Karlsson discusses what the sport means to her. 

Following are excerpts of the interview:

How did you get into this particular sport?

In Sweden, every little girl pretty much goes to riding school. All of my friends were there so it was natural to go there after school. While a lot of my friends dropped out because they developed other interests, I stuck with it. I fell in love with the horses, riding, and just caring for the horses. Equestrian showjumping is the second biggest sport in Sweden – it has a huge following, like soccer.

Do you see equestrian sports picking up in Sri Lanka?

For Sri Lanka, this is a very new sport. Obviously, it needs to develop, but I think my qualification for the Olympics was a huge milestone. I received so many messages from young people who wanted to become equestrians and who had just discovered this new passion. It warms my heart because I love this sport so much. 

I think the sport gets less attention in Sri Lanka probably because of the warm weather. It’s not optimal for showjumping horses to be trained in tropical climates. It’s just something new; it needs to develop, people need to take more action and maybe start riding, go to a riding school, learn more about horses, and hopefully, in the future, we will have a team for Sri Lanka.

Tell us a little about your horse Chopin VA and the team behind you.

VA stands for Von Allwörden, who is the breeder and my partner, so all our horses get the ‘VA’ after their name. This is to identify where they were born and who bred them.

Equestrianism is an individual sport and not a team sport, but that’s just what you see in the competition. I have an amazing team that takes care of the horses on the show and at home. I need to trust 100% that they will take the best care of my horses while I’m not there. 

When I’m in Sri Lanka, I have others riding my horses at home to keep them fit and trained. We also have mental trainers and personal trainers. It’s a huge team and of course everything is sponsored. I have amazing horse owners and really good sponsors. Without these people I would never be able to ride at the top level. 

What are your plans, goals, and aspirations?

My biggest hope and dream is to qualify for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. I think that will be my endgame, my absolute biggest goal when I start competing again. Another is to have a really strong set of young horses that have the potential to become Olympic horses.  

You dropped out of the limelight after the Tokyo Olympics. Could you tell us what happened?

I decided to take a break from the shows. I competed almost every weekend for the last 5-7 years; it was a very busy time. I also felt like I needed to take a step back. There was so much pressure, so much focus on the Olympics. This being an individual sport and the pressure of performing well for my country kind of got to me. 

I then decided to take a break. It really helped me and this has been a fantastic time. I wasn’t sure how I would feel to not compete, because that’s just who I am. I didn’t know who I would be without it. But I found myself and I definitely found a new strength in myself. That, I think, is going to be a big advantage when I start competing again.

How do you handle the mental and physical pressure of the sport?

Equestrianism is a somewhat different sport because firstly, it’s the only Olympic sport where men and women compete together on equal levels. That’s an amazing thing – I don’t think that is something negative at all. It’s inspiring that you can be just as successful as anyone else. However, it is a lot of pressure, especially as your team partner is not a football, a car, or any other sporting equipment that you can just put aside, but an actual living thing that needs your help and care 24/7.

How have you been keeping up with your philanthropic activities?

I have been so blessed to live a very privileged life compared to many other young people and also a lot of adults. I always thought that I needed to give something back because I always felt so blessed. I knew that I needed to try to find a passion to help other people. I have been travelling a lot with the Red Cross last year to engage in humanitarian work. It involves different kinds of work and it’s really fulfilling.

I’m enthusiastic about securing every child’s right to education. Coming from a country like Sri Lanka, I look a little different when in Europe. I went to South Africa last November and visited a school that I have been supporting for many years, since I had never had the time to go there myself to meet the students before. When I finally went there it was amazing and coming from similar backgrounds, I felt really close to the people and the children.

You travel to all corners of the world through the sport. What is your most unforgettable experience?

The Olympic Games in Tokyo was the biggest highlight of my life. My proudest moment was to ride into that arena representing Sri Lanka. 

I’ve been blessed to have travelled to almost all the continents in the world with my fantastic horses through this sport. Mexico was amazing – the crowd there really knows what they are watching. With the colours and the fences, it was just something very special. When I compete in Sweden, it’s also different. It’s really cool when the people just know who you are and they support you wholeheartedly.

What is your message to the Sri Lankan youth who are striving to succeed in sports?

It’s all about working hard and finding your passion. You need to burn for it. If you have that fire inside you, you will get up early in the morning, you will train, and you will push yourself harder. That is the key – to work really hard, but also not to be afraid to ask for help, to get advice from people who have been in the field for a long time and who might see the potential in you and help you get started.