Marcela Krinke-Susmelj

Born in Czechoslovakia in 1965, Marcela Krinke-Susmelj and her family fled the country three years later following the Warsaw Pact invasion, relocating in Switzerland. For her 12th birthday Krinke-Susmelj was given horse riding lessons as a present, beginning her life-long love of animals. After finishing school she studied veterinary medicine in Zürich and did a one-year internship at Washington State University. On her return to Switzerland she worked at the Zürich Veterinary Hospital and helped to set up a riding business with her future husband.

Krinke-Susmelj began competing at multiple equestrian events around the world, including the World Equestrian Games (2006, 2010, 2014), the European Dressage Championships (2005, 2007, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017), and the Dressage World Cup (2013, 2014, 2016, 2017). At the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics she finished 24th in the individual dressage event, before retiring from international competition two years later.