Charlotte Dujardin has been a role model for young people passionate about horse riding for many years. She is a three-time Olympic champion in dressage, both individually and as a team. She won two gold medals in London in 2012, a gold and a silver in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, as well as two bronze medals in Tokyo in 2021. In Paris, she was supposed to fight to expand her impressive achievements. However, shortly before the games, a huge scandal broke out.
Dujardin had no mercy towards the animal
The British television station ITV in the program “Good Morning Britain” showed a recording of a riding lesson conducted by Dujardin. We see the 39-year-old training one of her students. There would be nothing wrong with this, of course, if it weren't for the fact that the British woman repeatedly hits the horse ridden by the girl with a whip (over 20 times in a minute).
The video caused a huge scandal throughout the country. Dujardin was condemned for cruelty to an innocent animal. Many people called for a lifetime disqualification for the British woman who, as the Sunday Independent journalist Lucina O'Sullivan wrote, “should never approach an animal again.” Fans also appealed to the International Federation of Equestrian Sports to strip the 39-year-old of all her Olympic medals.
The Federation has made a decision. Fine and disqualification
The athlete herself did not deny anything and in an official statement she admitted that there was no excuse for her behavior and she intended to cooperate with the authorities during the proceedings. Of course, she did not go to Paris and was suspended for six months. After less than a five-month investigation, the FEI finally made a decision regarding Dujardin.
The Briton will not have her achievements stripped of her previous achievements, but she has been banned for a year from the start of her original suspension (July 23, 2024). So, in fact, there are just over seven months left of the sentence. In addition, the 39-year-old must pay a fine of 10,000 Swiss francs.