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Charlotte Dujardin

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Charlotte Dujardin
CBE
Dujardin in 2012
Personal information
Full nameCharlotte Susan Jane Dujardin[1]
Born (1985-07-13) 13 July 1985 (age 39)[2]
Enfield, Greater London, England
Height1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Weight61 kg (134 lb)
Children1
Sport
Country Great Britain
SportEquestrian dressage
TeamBritish Dressage Federation
Turned pro2011
Coached byCarl Hester, Ian Cast
Achievements and titles
Highest world ranking1
Medal record
Equestrian
Representing  Great Britain
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2012 London Team dressage
(with Valegro)
Gold medal – first place 2012 London Individual dressage
(with Valegro)
Gold medal – first place 2016 Rio de Janeiro Individual dressage
(with Valegro)
Silver medal – second place 2016 Rio de Janeiro Team dressage
(with Valegro)
Bronze medal – third place 2020 Tokyo Team dressage
(with Gio)
Bronze medal – third place 2020 Tokyo Individual dressage
(with Gio)
World Equestrian Games
Gold medal – first place 2014 Normandy Spécial dressage
(with Valegro)
Gold medal – first place 2014 Normandy Freestyle dressage
(with Valegro)
Silver medal – second place 2014 Normandy Team dressage
(with Valegro)
Silver medal – second place 2022 Herning Team dressage
Bronze medal – third place 2018 Tryon Spécial dressage
(with Mount St John Freestyle)
Bronze medal – third place 2018 Tryon Team dressage
(with Mount St John Freestyle)
European Dressage Championships
Gold medal – first place 2011 Rotterdam Team dressage
(with Valegro)
Gold medal – first place 2013 Herning Spécial dressage
(with Valegro)
Gold medal – first place 2013 Herning Freestyle dressage
(with Valegro)
Gold medal – first place 2015 Aachen Spécial dressage
(with Valegro)
Gold medal – first place 2015 Aachen Freestyle dressage
(with Valegro)
Gold medal – first place 2023 Riesenbeck Team dressage
(with Imhotep)
Silver medal – second place 2015 Aachen Team dressage
(with Valegro)
Silver medal – second place 2021 Hagen Team dressage
(with Gio)
Bronze medal – third place 2013 Herning Team dressage
(with Valegro)
Bronze medal – third place 2021 Hagen Individual dressage
(with Gio)
Bronze medal – third place 2023 Riesenbeck Special dressage
(with Imhotep)
Bronze medal – third place 2023 Riesenbeck Freestyle dressage
(with Imhotep)
Dressage World Cup
Gold medal – first place 2014 Lyon Individual dressage
(with Valegro)
Gold medal – first place 2015 Las Vegas Individual dressage
(with Valegro)

Charlotte Susan Jane Dujardin CBE (born 13 July 1985) is a British dressage rider, equestrian, and writer. A multiple World and Olympic champion, Dujardin has been described as the dominant dressage rider of her era.[3] She held the complete set of available individual elite dressage titles at one point[when?]: the individual Olympic freestyle, World freestyle and Grand Prix Special, World Cup individual dressage and European freestyle, and Grand Prix Special titles. Dujardin was the first rider to hold this complete set of titles at the same time.[4]

With six Olympic medals, including three gold medals, Dujardin is Britain's joint most decorated female Olympian of all time, tied with cyclist Laura Kenny.[5]

On 23 July 2024, Dujardin pulled out of the 2024 Summer Olympics after being provisionally suspended over animal cruelty allegations. The provisional suspension will remain in place pending the outcome of the investigation/disciplinary proceedings.

Early life

[edit]

Born in Enfield, Dujardin was brought up in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire. She started riding as a two-year-old,[6] returning her elder sisters' horses from the show jumping ring to the horse trailer.[7] Aged three, she achieved second place at her first Pony Club show jumping competition.[7] To finance their hobby, their mother Jane Dujardin bought and sold ponies for her daughters.[8]

As a child Dujardin was diagnosed with dyslexia.[9] She attended Vandyke Upper School in Leighton Buzzard,[10] but later commented, "I didn’t really attend school that much".[11] She left school aged 16.[12][13]

Dujardin won the Horse of the Year Show competition four times and was a winner at All England Jumping Course at Hickstead on three occasions.[13][14]

Career

[edit]

After encouragement from her trainer Debbie Thomas,[6] Dujardin took up dressage with a horse bought using an inheritance from her grandmother.[7][8] In February 2007, after she sought employment with Carl Hester,[6] he gave her some coaching. Spotting her talent, he offered her a job as a groom at his yard in Newent, Gloucestershire, where she has since remained.[15][7][12][13] Dujardin's owned-horse is Fernandez.[6]

In 2011, Dujardin was asked by Hester and co-owner Roly Luard to develop the novice Dutch Warmblood gelding Valegro,[8][16] with the intention of that horse being ridden by Hester.[15][8] However, Dujardin competed on Valegro in their first dressage Grand Prix event in 2011[13] and the combination became part of the successful team which won gold in a European Dressage Championship event at Rotterdam. The pair then won the FEI World Cup Grand Prix at London Olympia in 2011, setting a new World Record for the Olympic Grand Prix special discipline by point-scoring at 88.022%, in April 2012.[14][17][18]

In December 2012 Dujardin, again riding Valegro, won the 2012 World Cup freestyle event held at Olympia, with a score of 87.875%.[19] On 19 April 2015 in Las Vegas, Dujardin and Valegro won the FEI World Cup with a score of 94.169% on the final day of competition. This was their fourth consecutive World Title; they are the only competition pair to have ever held four consecutive world titles.[20][21]

In 2019, Dujardin was eliminated from the Longines FEI European Championships after blood was found on her horse, Mount St John, after her test.[22][23]

Olympics

[edit]
The gold post box for Charlotte Dujardin in Enfield.

Dujardin and Valegro were among the rider/horse pairs selected to represent Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Olympics,[24] In the first round this dressage team set a new Olympic Record of 83.784%. On 7 August 2012 the pair were members of the British team which won the gold medal in the team dressage event.[25] Two days later, in a routine accompanied by music which included Land of Hope and Glory, The Great Escape and the chimes of Big Ben;[7] the pair won the gold medal in the individual dressage event, with a score of 90.089%.[26]

Dujardin and Valegro also won double individual gold medals at the 2016 Rio Olympics, making her the first British woman to retain an individual Olympic title. With three gold medals and a silver, Dujardin was briefly the most successful female British Olympian in the history of the Games before cyclist Laura Trott surpassed her record with a fourth gold. Dujardin and Valegro set a new Olympic dressage score of 93.857 in the Grand Prix Freestyle.[27]

On 14 December 2016, Dujardin retired Valegro at age 14 after completing a freestyle test at the Olympia London International Horse Show. The event was televised live on the BBC. Valegro's final performance was followed by tributes from Carl Hester, Valegro's owner and Dujardin's trainer, and Alan Davies, Valegro's groom. Dujardin and Hester decided after the 2016 Summer Olympics that Valegro had done everything that he could have after winning 3 Olympic gold medals (2 individual and 1 team), 1 silver, and numerous world titles with Dujardin, and wanted to let him end his career on a high note. "I wanted to retire him on a high note, because he owes me absolutely nothing", Dujardin said after an interview with the BBC.[28]

International Championship results

[edit]
Charlotte Dujardin and Gio at 2021 European Championships
Results
Year Event Horse Score Placing Notes
2011 European Championships Valegro 78.830% 1st place, gold medalist(s) Team
76.548% 6th Individual Special
79.357% 9th Individual Freestyle
2012 Olympic Games Valegro 83.663% 1st place, gold medalist(s) Team
90.089% 1st place, gold medalist(s) Individual
2013 European Championships Valegro 85.942% 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Team
85.699% 1st place, gold medalist(s) Individual Special
91.250% 1st place, gold medalist(s) Individual Freestyle
2014 World Cup Final Valegro 92.179% 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2014 World Equestrian Games Valegro 85.271% 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Team
86.120% 1st place, gold medalist(s) Individual Special
92.161% 1st place, gold medalist(s) Individual Freestyle
2015 World Cup Final Valegro 94.196% 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2015 European Championships Valegro 83.029% 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Team
87.577% 1st place, gold medalist(s) Individual Special
89.054% 1st place, gold medalist(s) Individual Freestyle
2016 Olympic Games Valegro 85.071% 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Team
93.857% 1st place, gold medalist(s) Individual
2018 World Equestrian Games Mount St. John Freestyle 77.764% 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Team
81.489% 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Individual Special
2019 European Championships Mount St. John Freestyle EL 4th Team
66th Individual
2021 Olympic Games Gio 79.544% 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Team
88.543% 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Individual
2021 European Championships Gio 79.829% 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Team
87.246% 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Individual

Animal cruelty allegation

[edit]

On 23 July 2024, Dujardin pulled out of competing at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris after a video emerged of her "engaging in conduct contrary to the principles of horse welfare", according to the FEI, the equestrian regulatory body.[29][30][31][32] British Equestrian and British Dressage forwarded "allegations of animal welfare misconduct" to the FEI for investigation[33] after footage emerged of her repeatedly whipping a horse during training - around 24 times in one minute.[34] She was subsequently suspended from competition by the FEI, the British Equestrian Federation and British Dressage while a full investigation was carried out.[35]

Dujardin said in a statement she was “deeply ashamed” and the incident “was completely out of character and does not reflect how I train my horses or coach my pupils”.[34] The day after her suspension was announced, Dujardin had her UK Sport funding halted pending the outcome of the FEI investigation. She was also dropped as an ambassador for horse welfare charity Brooke.[36][37] Two of her sponsors – equestrian insurance company KBIS and equipment firm Equine LTS – terminated their deals with her.[38]

Two days after Dujardin was suspended, board members of the International Dressage Riders Club, including her former mentor and Olympic teammate Carl Hester, issued a statement saying they "universally condemn" her actions.[39][40]

Writing and television

[edit]

Dujardin released her autobiography, The Girl on the Dancing Horse: Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro, in (2018).[41] She guest-starred on the Netflix show Free Rein.[42]

Personal life

[edit]

Her then-fiancé Dean Golding wore a shirt bearing the proposal "Can we get married now?" after she won the gold medal at the Rio Olympics.[43] On 6 March 2023, Dujardin gave birth to a daughter.[44]

Honours

[edit]

Dujardin was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours[45][46] and Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2017 New Year Honours,[47] both for services to equestrianism.

Dujardin has a modern strip of public housing, Dujardin Mews, named after her in Enfield.[48]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "New Year's Honours list 2017" (PDF). Gov.uk. Government Digital Service. 30 December 2016. p. 14. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  2. ^ "Charlotte Dujardin". olympedia.org. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  3. ^ "Charlotte Dujardin back on top of the world as she wins grand prix special at World Equestrian Games". Telegraph.co.uk. 27 August 2014.
  4. ^ "FINAL RESULT - Freestyle Grand Prix" (PDF). 3 September 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 September 2014.
  5. ^ "Laura Kenny grabs record fifth gold to become most successful GB female Olympian". Independent. 6 August 2021.
  6. ^ a b c d Lizzy Davies (9 August 2012). "Charlotte Dujardin: gold for the woman who could make a donkey dance". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
  7. ^ a b c d e "London 2012 Olympics: 'I always knew she would be a star', says mother of dressage gold-winner Charlotte Dujardin". Evening Standard. 9 August 2012. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
  8. ^ a b c d "Equestrian: 'Unlikely winner' Charlotte Dujardin celebrates double gold". The Independent. 9 August 2012. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
  9. ^ Redrup, Gemma (16 December 2014). "12 things you might not know about Charlotte Dujardin". Horse & Hound.
  10. ^ "Double gold medal winner is ex-Vandyke student". Leighton Buzzard Observer. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  11. ^ Dunn, Matthew (10 August 2012). "Charlotte Dujardin's lost days at school". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
  12. ^ a b "Charlotte Dujardin". Teamgb.com. Retrieved 7 July 2012.
  13. ^ a b c d "Charlotte Dujardin". Carlhester.co.uk. Archived from the original on 26 July 2010. Retrieved 7 July 2012.
  14. ^ a b "London 2012: Charlotte Dujardin breaks dressage world record". BBC Sport. Retrieved 7 July 2012.
  15. ^ a b Knight, Sam (8 August 2016). "The Duo That Dominates Dressage". The New Yorker. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  16. ^ "BLG 1965, LUARD formerly of Blyborough". Burkes Peerage. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  17. ^ "Dujardin and Valegro take 2012CDA Hagen Grand Prix for special by storm". Eurodressage.com. Retrieved 7 July 2012.
  18. ^ "Charlotte Dujardin triumphs in FEI World Cup grand prix". BBC Sport. Retrieved 7 July 2012.
  19. ^ "Charlotte Dujardin wins World Cup freestyle in Olympia". BBC Sport. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
  20. ^ "GBR Dujardin, Charlotte" (PDF). Eventocntent.hippoonline.de. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
  21. ^ "Horses, Dressage & More". Dressage Daily News. Archived from the original on 30 July 2015. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  22. ^ "Isabell Werth secures Golden medal for team Germany. Ireland for first time ever qualifies Dressage team for Tokyo". Equnews International. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
  23. ^ "Dujardin eliminated from European Championships after blood found on her horse". www.shropshirestar.com. 20 August 2019. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
  24. ^ "London 2012: Dressage riders Bechtolsheimer and Dujardin selected for Team GB". Sportsister.com. Archived from the original on 23 July 2012. Retrieved 7 July 2012.
  25. ^ "Olympics equestrian: 20 gold medals for GB with dressage win". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 8 August 2012. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
  26. ^ "Olympics equestrian: Charlotte Dujardin wins second dressage gold". BBC Sport. 9 August 2012. Archived from the original on 9 August 2012. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
  27. ^ "Dujardin and Her Horse with a Heart of Gold Do It Again, Olympic Individual Gold". Eurodressage.com. 15 August 2016. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
  28. ^ "Valegro: Charlotte Dujardin's gold-winning mount is retired". BBC Sport. 14 December 2016.
  29. ^ "Dujardin out of Olympics after 'error of judgement'". BBC Sport. 23 July 2024. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  30. ^ "FEI announces provisional suspension of Dressage athlete Charlotte Dujardin (GBR)". FEI. 23 July 2024. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  31. ^ Ingle, Sean (23 July 2024). "Dujardin banned from Olympics over allegedly 'whipping horse 24 times'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
  32. ^ Paris, Matt Lawton (24 July 2024). "Charlotte Dujardin out of Olympics for 'whipping horse like circus elephant'". www.thetimes.com. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
  33. ^ "Team GB athlete Charlotte Dujardin pulls out of Paris Olympics after 'whipping horse 24 times'". Sky News. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
  34. ^ a b "Dujardin out of Olympics over 'whipping horse 24 times like circus elephant'". The Independent. 24 July 2024. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
  35. ^ "GB's Dujardin given provisional ban and out of Games". BBC Sport. 23 July 2024. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
  36. ^ "Dujardin whistleblower wants to 'save dressage'". BBC Sport. 24 July 2024. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
  37. ^ "Charlotte Dujardin dumped as ambassador for charity after horse whipping storm". Runcorn and Widnes World. 24 July 2024. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
  38. ^ "The Charlotte Dujardin case explained". BBC Sport. 24 July 2024. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
  39. ^ "Dujardin condemned by GB team-mate Hester". BBC Sport. 25 July 2024. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
  40. ^ Ingle, Sean (25 July 2024). "Charlotte Dujardin condemned by mentor and GB teammate for abusing horse". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
  41. ^ Bryan, Polly (24 February 2018). "Charlotte Dujardin's autobiography: an informal 'chat' with the Olympic champion". Horse & Hound.
  42. ^ Charlotte Dujardin to appear in children’s TV show [permanent dead link‍]
  43. ^ "Charlotte Dujardin hails Valegro after winning gold". The Scotsman. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
  44. ^ Polly Bryan (7 March 2023). "'Surrounded by immense love': Charlotte Dujardin welcomes first child". Horse and Hound. Retrieved 11 September 2023.
  45. ^ "No. 60367". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 December 2012. p. 24.
  46. ^ "2013 New Year's Honours" (PDF). Cabinetoffice.gov.uk. Retrieved 29 December 2012.
  47. ^ "No. 61803". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2016. p. N8.
  48. ^ "Dujardin Mews". www.architecture.com.
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