Gabriela Grillo came from the very wealthy entrepreneurial dynasty Grillo. She wrote a horse opera including choreography for a horse ballet at the age of only 12 years. Later, she took over as Chairwoman of the Supervisory Board of Grillo-Werke AG, which deals with zinc metallurgy and sulphur chemistry. She also worked as a sports journalist, specializing in equestrian events for some years.

At the 1976 Montréal Olympics Grillo won a gold medal with the West German dressage team, ridingUltimo, but finished an unfortunate fourth in the individual event. With the team she also won European titles in 1977, 1979, and 1981. Domestically, she won individual titles in 1977, and from 1979-83. For her Olympic gold medal, she was awarded the Silver Bay Leaf, Germany’s highest sports award.