Equestrian’s pride of Sussex – profile of Kristina (Tina) Cook

This month highlights another of Sussex’s sporting successes in British three-day eventing rider, Tina Cook. Born in Rustington, Cook is the daughter of four times British jump racing Champion jockey Josh Gifford, trainer of 1981 Grand National winner, Aldaniti, and Althea Roger-Smith who won the Queen Elizabeth Cup, came second in the Hickstead Derby and represented Team GB in the Nations Cup.

Both parents were racehorse trainers when she was born and, along with her brother, their formative years were spent in the saddle as members of the Crawley and Horsham Pony Club. It was here where Tina experienced competition levels for the first time, which resulted in her selection for the Junior European Championships in Rome in 1993, where she competed on a horse called ‘Song and Dance Man’. Having become a full-time eventer at sixteen and winning a scholarship based at Gatcombe with Captain Mark Phillips at the age of twenty, she won an individual silver medal and then followed this up with team gold on ‘General Jock’ at the World Equestrian Games in The Hague. The following year she won team gold on ‘Midnight Blue’ in 1995, individual bronze on ‘General Jock’ in 1997 and team gold in 1999 on ‘Gangster II’ at the European Championships.

Having been a frequent member of British squads at Championships for more than twenty years, Tina has competed at two Olympic Games, five World Equestrian Games and seven European Championships, picking up ten medals in the process. She was selected for the European Championships in 2017 with ‘Billy The Red’, winning team gold. At the World Equestrian Games in 2018, the same pair competed as individuals finishing ninth.

Her medal tally includes individual and team bronze at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing on ‘Miners Frolic’ where her participation was secured after the withdrawals of Zara Phillips and Lucy Wiegersma, and team silver at the London Olympics on the same horse in 2012. Tina has also won two world team golds in 1994 and a world team silver in 2014 at the World Equestrian Games on her homebred horse ‘De Novo News’, who was competing in his first championship. 

Unfortunately, she was only named as a reserve at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, at the time expressing her disappointment, telling BBC Sussex “I’ve been the leading British rider at the last two Olympics, and I’ve been very consistent with my horses this year, so I felt I ticked the box…!” 

Tina’s greatest individual accolade to date came when she won individual gold at the 2009 European Championships in Fontainebleau on ‘Miners Frolic’, where she also led the British team to the gold medal. 

Closer to home, further awards came in the shape of deservedly winning the Sussex Sports Personality of The Year at the 2012 Active Sussex Sports Awards, held at the Hilton Brighton Metropole, following her silver medal success at the London Olympics. Yours truly had the privilege of meeting her at the Awards and having the opportunity to hold her silver medal was one I couldn’t pass up. She was so humble and it was a real pleasure to meet her, I just wish I had a photo of that moment!