| Injuries |
In April 2010 she fell from her horse while training on her farm in Germany. Her helmet bore the brunt of the fall but she spent a night in hospital. She also had to withdraw from the 2010 World Cup Final in Geneva, Switzerland. (horsetalk.co.nz, 14 Apr 2010) |
| Awards and honours |
She was named the Irish Times and Irish Sports Council Sportswoman of the Month for January 2012. It was the eighth time she had won the award. (horsesportireland.ie, 15 Feb 2012; rte.ie, 10 Mar 2010)
She was named Ireland's 2006 Showjumper of the Year. (horsetalk.co.nz, 27 Feb 2007) |
| Famous relatives |
Her father George was an amateur horseracing jockey. (globalchampionstour.com, 08 Aug 2014) |
| Other information |
RETIREMENT
In December 2014 she decided to take a break from the sport to focus on deciding what her priorities would be for the rest of her career. The following month she announced she was retiring from competitive showjumping. She has since become a regular commentator for showjumping events on the FEI TV online channel. "I am crazy about horses and I still burn for showjumping. However, I felt that the time was ripe for something new." (Team Ireland Equestrian Facebook page, 30 Dec 2015; spring-reiter.de, 18 Feb 2015; st-georg.de, 15 Dec 2014)
WELL TRAVELLED
She met her husband Eckhard at the Dublin Horse Show in Ireland in 1994. The pair moved to Germany shortly afterwards. In January 2012 the couple relocated to Paris, where she began riding for Edouard de Rothschild. Just two weeks after the move to France and over a year since her last major victory, she won the four-star Amsterdam Grand Prix in the Netherlands. (edouard-rothschild.com, 23 May 2012; horseweb.de, 28 Mar 2012; irishtimes.com, 15 Feb 2012; jessica-kuerten.de, 23 Aug 2010)
OWN DESIGN
She has designed the equestrian centre at the Quintas de Obidos Country Club in Portugal. (silvercoastlifestyleproperties.com, 28 Jan 2015)
FEI ATHLETES COMMITTEE
Kürten was selected as the Chair of the FEI Athletes Committee for the term 2022-2026, and sits as an Executive Board Member. (FEI, Feb 2023) |
FEI Database
www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-k%25C3%25BCrten-740b7081 
www.facebook.com/jessica.kurten.7 
