Céline Van Till's conferences

Céline van Till is a Swiss para-dressage rider. Born on 20 June 1991 in Geneva, she started riding when she was six. She fell completely in love with riding, and soon revealed her competitive spirit. When she was just 13, she participated in competition after competition, in dressage and in showjumping. In the end, she decided to continue on with dressage, for the elegance of the movements and the perfection of the gestures. In 2007, she became famous when she won 5th place in the junior Swiss championships. This was a major turning point in her career, enabling her to join the national junior team.

But in 2008, her life totally changed. She fell! While she was training in Germany, she had a serious horse-riding accident, which plunged her into a month-long coma. Severe head trauma. She came out of the coma partially quadriplegic, aphasic, and partially sighted. Did she give up? The phrase is not part of her vocabulary.

Returning to the saddle made her enjoy life again, gradually regain trust in herself and her horse. Just two years after her terrible accident, she was able to reach the highest level in para-dressage. She became Miss Handicap in 2012, and continued to use her experience to serve the integration and equality of handicapped people. As helping others is her passion, she works with institutions such as Handicap International Switzerland, where she is on the board of directors.

In 2014, she was selected for the World Equestrian Games, and went on to represent Switzerland at the Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. She took 13th place, and is already working toward winning a medal in Tokyo in 2020! Her leitmotif is « everything is possible », as she says in her autobiography: « Pas à pas, histoire d’un accident et d’une résurrection » (« Step by step, the story of an accident and a resurrection », in French), published by Slatkine. After her book, a film on her was produced: Bucéphale (the premiere will be announced soon). This documentary tells the story of her journey and the ordeals she had to overcome to recover her life!

As she wants to share her expertise with others, she is often asked to give conferences and to offer training for companies. She has become an entrepreneur, and shares fundamental life values and a mindset that can overcome each challenge.

Céline also sponsors several sports events, such as the 2018 Geneva National Special Olympics, and the « 20km de Genève by Genève » race. To support the next generation, she is the honorary sponsor of Cookie. She sponsors the « Jeux du Grand Genève », and is involved in the sports studies programme at ESM.

She has several sports and professional projects, and remains focused on her next objective: Tokyo 2020, which she is striving for with more determination than ever.