1982–1997: Young rider Alexander began riding at the age of eight. She became interested in horses because her neighbor had a barn and she watched them ride on the weekends. The Avondale Pony Club in
North Turramurra, New South Wales was where she first began riding. In 1995 she won the Australian Young Rider Championships.
1998–2005: Move to Europe and professional beginnings In 1998, wanting to ride against the top riders in the world, she moved to Europe, taking her horse, Mr. Dundee, with her to Belgium.
2006–2012: First two Olympic cycles In 2006 in Aachen Germany, she became the first Australian to make the final of the individual jumping competition at the
World Equestrian Games, where she finished fourth despite entering the competition as 35th in world show jumping rankings.
Brussels,
Valkenswaard,
London,
Zürich,
Cannes,
Geneva,
Vigo, and
Doha are just few of the places where Edwina has won
Grand Prix shows. She was selected for the jumping events at the
2008 Summer Olympics where she rode Isovlas Itot du Chateau. She placed 9th in the individuals and 9th in the team competition. Also in 2012, at the age of 38, she rode in the individual show jumping for Australia at the Summer Olympics. She rode Itot Du Chateau and finished in a time of 81.77s with 4 faults. This put her in 20th place for the individual competition and for them team competition Australia was 10th.
2013–present: Prizewinning record, third Olympics, hiatus and return In 2016 Edwina won the Miami Beach Grand Prix, the first Global Champions Tour round of the season. Edwina placed ninth in the individual showjumping during the 2016 Summer Olympics, with Lintea Tequila. She currently has Lintea Tequila, California, and Carentina De Jonter as her main horses. On 19 March 2017 Tops-Alexander won the
Saut Hermès competition in
Paris, on the mare California. A week later, she announced an indefinite hiatus from competition due to her pregnancy. On 14 September 2017, Tops-Alexander made a return to 5* competition in Switzerland. "To be honest I never really felt like I was on a break. I was so busy I didn't even get time to read a book. I had a very easy pregnancy. I was never tired and I had no sickness except for having no appetite. I just enjoy so much spending time with Chloé and getting to understand her" said Tops-Alexander in an interview. Tops-Alexander was selected for the
Tokyo 2020 Olympics and rode Identity Viseroel in the Jumping event. She was not able to progress to the final. ==Personal life==