TOPS-ALEXANDER Edwina

General
MATERNITY BREAK AND FUTURE PLANS
In 2017 she took time away from the sport to give birth to her daughter Chloe. She returned to competition a month later. "It's a great feeling to be a mother. I think it's also positive for other women to see that you can come back to sport and it doesn't have to hinder your lifestyle and your goals. Everything is about timing and I was really lucky to have Chloe when I did. I definitely won't be riding competitively in 10 years' time. Chloe will be older and I want to give her my time and to enjoy other things in life. I'd like to do two more Olympics [in 2020 and 2024], then see where I am. There's so much more you can do in the sport than riding - maybe I'll own a few horses and keep in touch with the breeding." (dl.magazinedl.com, 06 Feb 2020; horsescout.com, 04 Jan 2018)

EUROPEAN EXPERIENCE
In 1998 she moved from Australia to Belgium, with the plan of only staying for six months. However, she spent three years riding for Belgian jumper Ludo Philippaerts before moving to her future husband Jan Top's stables in Valkenswaard, Netherlands, in 2003. "When I was a teenager, there was no internet and I didn't know what the showjumping world was like outside Australia. I read about it in Horse & Hound, and I had to move to Europe to find out. It's a hectic lifestyle, all travelling, so it's nice to separate the two lives. Reading that magazine made me realise there was a different level to showjumping outside Australia and I knew it wasn't the place to be if I wanted to be good at it." (dl.magazinedl.com, 06 Feb 2020; edwinaalexander.com, 16 Aug 2015; goldcoastbulletin.com.au, 02 Oct 2014; Global Champions Tour YouTube channel, 28 Jun 2014)

EARLY DAYS
She considered quitting the sport at age 15 but her then coach George Sanna encouraged her to keep on going. "When I was 15, my parents supported me 100%, and I realised with the horse I had - it was not only a waste of their money, but I felt bad that they were putting a lot into my career and I knew that I couldn't actually go much further. So I told my trainer George Sanna to tell my parents I wasn't good enough. I remember that day so clearly." (equilifeworld.com, 12 Jun 2019)