British equestrian rider takes gold

Lee Pearson of Great Britain with horse Gentlemen.

HONG KONG // The British equestrian dressage rider Lee Pearson rode to a ninth Paralympic gold medal in a row on Thursday, extending a remarkable unbeaten run at three successive Games. Pearson, undefeated at Paralympic level with three golds at the 2000 Sydney Games and three in Athens in 2004, maintained his golden streak in Hong Kong which is hosting equestrian events on behalf of Beijing. "I want to cry," said Pearson who was born with arthrogryposis ? a muscle and joint condition which has left his arms and legs badly twisted ? and who has to ride wearing plastic splints running from his backside to his heels.

"I am over the moon that I've maintained my 100 per cent success rate," he said after clinching the freestyle dressage gold with his brown gelding Gentleman, brushing off the challenge of fellow Briton Ricky Balshaw, who took silver, and Brazil's Marcos Alves bronze. Pearson, 34, plans to chase more gold medals in London, perhaps even against able-bodied riders. "I've got to do London 2012, to do the Paralympics in your own country is going to be amazing. With the right funding, I could even do the Olympics. You find me a few million to fund me an Olympics horse and I'll ride it in London."

Pearson's two other golds came in the individual championship dressage test and the team event ? Britain's fourth team gold in a row, stretching back to Atlanta in 1996 when equestrian events first became part of the Paralympic Games. "I would like to inspire any person that you can always do something amazing, you can do something out of this world with what you're given and what you're born with," he said.

*Reuters