Paralympic gold medallist Lee Pearson to miss European Championships after suffering a broken back

Nine-time Paralympic gold medallist Lee Pearson will miss the opportunity to defend his titles at the European Championships this September after injuring himself in training.

Pearson, 37, fell from his horse during training breaking three vertebrae and crushing a fourth. This injury will put him out of action for eight weeks meaning he will miss the selection events in July.

This makes it impossible for Pearson to get the chance to ride at the European Championships which are being held in Belgium.

Pearson told the BBC: “The news came as quite a shock… I never dreamed it could be broken. I thought I must have sprained it as I'm able to carry on with life pretty much as normal."

The European Championships are the last major Para dressage event before the London Games which are still top of Pearson’s priorities.

“I could be riding again sooner than I think but either way it's much more important that I'm injury free and back in form for the Paralympics next year.”

The Great Britain team has won gold at every Paralympics, World and European Championship since the sport began. This year the team will be hoping to keep up this achievement without the help of Lee Pearson.

Performance Manager David Hunter told the BBC: "It's very unfortunate that Lee has had this accident but we are relieved to hear though that it has been picked up early.

"We expect to see him back on board soon and fighting fit for London 2012."