Sophia from Uldum in pursuit of her Olympic dream

Horseback riding, JYSK and sleep fill most hours of a normal day for 27-year-old Sophia Stegmann. She hopes to participate at the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024 with her horse Calistro.

Despite hard work there is still time to dream when 27-year-old Sophia Stegmann carries out her tasks at JYSK in Uldum at night, where she is employed to pack the pallets that will subsequently be sent out to JYSK shops.

And the dreams concern the Olympic Games in 2024, where the 27-year-old JYSK colleague and military rider hopes to participate with her horse Calistro.

A dream that Sophia came significantly closer to realizing, when she was selected for the Danish national team in the beginning of 2021.

"I can feel that the next step up the ladder is hard, and there is still something to work with. But now that I have begun competing consistanly against the very best riders, I definitely believe that the Olympic Games are realistic,” says Sophia.

Expensive sport

At least once a month, she loads a truck, and she and Calistro set for a European country to compete.

In addition, she spends on average app. 6 hours a day on her sport. But while many of her competitors have large sponsorships that allow them to relax when that time is spent, Sophia takes all the extra shifts she can in Uldum, to be able to afford and cultivate her passion.

“I get no financial support from the Danish Equestrian Federation, and as I spend about 35,000 EUR a year on my sport, I work as much as possible to be able to pursue the dream. That is why it is important for me to have a flexible employer,” says Sophia.

"My managers in Uldum have been very flexible in terms of ensuring that I can get time off when I participate in competitions abroad, and at the same time make it possible for me to take extra shifts when I have the opportunity," Sophia continues.

JYSK as a sponsor

In addition, she has just entered into a sponsorship agreement with JYSK, which from now on will support her financially in her goal of securing her and Calistro a spot at the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024.

“I have other sponsors which help me with products, but JYSK is the only sponsor that supports me financially. This means a lot, even though there is still room for more sponsors,” says Sophia.

Although she has ridden since she was seven years old, and riding fills most of her life, there is also room to talk about much else at the workplace.

"Of course I am happy to talk about Military, if my colleagues ask me. But not everyone has a passion for riding, so I do not talk about it all the time. Most of my colleagues show so degree of interest in my sport and my results, but honestly they also think that the whole project sounds a bit crazy,” says Sophia with a laugh.