Britain’s joint-most decorated female Olympian, Charlotte Dujardin, has pulled out of the Paris Games after a video emerged showing her “making an error of judgement” in a coaching session.
The dressage rider, who has won three Olympic golds, including two in London in 2012, had been set to compete in both the individual and team events in France later this month.
Referring to the video, the Team GB athlete said what happened was “completely out of character” and “does not reflect how I train my horses or coach my pupils”.
But she said “there is no excuse” and she was “deeply ashamed” and “sincerely sorry”.
Image: Pic: PA
Ms Dujardin, 39, said she was being investigated by the International Federation for Equestrian Sports (FEI) and will “withdraw from all competition – including the Paris Olympics – while this process takes place”.
British Equestrian Federation and British Dressage were also investigating, she added.
In a statement on her Instagram, she said: “A video has emerged from four years ago which shows me making an error of judgement during a coaching session.”
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She continued: “What happened was completely out of character and does not reflect how I train my horses or coach my pupils, however there is no excuse. I am deeply ashamed and should have set a better example in that moment.”
Ms Dujardin, who also won two golds at the World Equestrian Games in 2014 in Normandy, said she was “sincerely sorry for my actions” and was “devastated that I have let everyone down, including Team GB, fans and sponsors”.
Image: Ms Dujardin with her Olympic gold in the individual dressage at London 2012. Pic: Reuters
Rider will ‘cooperate fully’ with investigations
“I will co-operate fully with the FEI, British Equestrian Federation and British Dressage during their investigations, and will not be commenting further until the process is complete,” she went on.
At the London 2012 Olympics, Ms Dujardin won golds in the individual and team dressage, while in Rio in 2016, she won gold in the individual competition and silver in the team event.
Later, at the postponed 2020 Tokyo Olympics three years ago she claimed bronzes in both the team and individual competitions.
Ms Dujardin has won a total of six Olympic medals in her career, making her Britain’s joint-most decorated female Olympian of all time, tied with retired cyclist Dame Laura Kenny.
Image: Ms Dujardin celebrates winning gold in the individual dressage at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Pic: Reuters/Action Images
Ms Dujardin started riding aged two
According to the Olympics website, Ms Dujardin was born on 13 July 1985 in Enfield, north London, but brought up in Hertfordshire, and took up riding aged two.
She was 13 when he first tried her hand at dressage, a discipline in which rider and horse must complete a series of complex moves, such as the tempi, zig-zag, piaffe and pirouettes.
Hailing from a modest background, but competing in an expensive sport, she bought her first Grand Prix horse, Fernandez, in 2007, thanks to money left to her by her late grandmother.
It was at that stage that she took up dressage competitively, having earlier aspired to be a jockey.
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Equestrian events at the Paris Games “will showcase the partnership between horse and rider across three distinct disciplines: jumping, dressage and eventing”, says the Olympics website.
The events will take place from 27 July from 6 August, with individual and team medals awarded for each discipline.
Jumping features timed obstacle courses, while dressage involves horse and rider performing artistic movements to music. Eventing, comparable to an equestrian ‘triathlon,’ combines dressage, jumping and cross-country.
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