Three-time Olympic dressage gold medallist Charlotte Dujardin was banned for a year on Thursday following a horse-whipping controversy that led to her withdrawal from the Paris Games.
The British rider was provisionally suspended by the governing body, the International Federation for Equestrian Sports, just days before the start of the Olympics in the French capital.
The FEI said it had received a video “depicting Ms Dujardin engaging in conduct contrary to the principles of horse welfare”, which showed her repeatedly striking a horse with a long whip.
The video, which was aired on the Good Morning Britain news program on Wednesday, shows Dujardin walking beside the horse, which is carrying another rider, and whipping it along.
Dujardin was provisionally suspended after equestrian’s governing body launched an investigation into her conduct, with the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) revealing they were looking into a video where she had engaged in “conduct contrary to the principles of horse welfare”.
Djuardin said in a video statement announcing her Olympic withdrawal that the footage showed her making an error of judgement that was out of character. She added that the footage was from several years ago and did not reflect how she trained her horses or coached her pupils. The FEI received the video from a lawyer on Monday but the complainant was undisclosed.
The equestrian rider now finds her career in tatters after being suspended for six months and missing out on the Olympics. Dujardin was widely expected to be honoured with a damehood after the Paris Games but the scandal looks set to scupper any such development.
UK Sport said in a statement that it was “disturbed by the serious concerns that have been raised in the past 24 hours regarding horse welfare and Charlotte Dujardin. We expect all staff and athletes in Olympic and Paralympic sport to adhere to the highest standards of behaviour, ethics and integrity.”
Animal rights organisation PETA has also renewed its call for equestrian events to be banned from the Olympics in the wake of the controversy.
“The message to the International Olympic Committee should be clear by now: Remove equestrian events from the Olympic Games,” PETA said in a statement.
“Yet again, an Olympic rider has been caught on video abusing a horse to force the animal to behave in an entirely unnatural way, simply for her own glory. Horses don’t volunteer – they can only submit to violence and coercion. It’s time for the Olympics to move into the modern era.”
Dujardin won three golds, a silver and two bronze medals at the London, Rio and Tokyo Games in individual and team dressage. She is Britain’s joint-most decorated female Olympian alongside cyclist Laura Kenny and was widely expected to leave Paris with a seventh Olympic Games medal from the dressage event in Paris.
Dujardin, who has also been fined 10,000 Swiss francs, said she had made an “error of judgement” and expressed deep remorse.
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She is now sidelined from all competition until July next year, with the suspension backdated to July 2024.
“The FEI has suspended British dressage athlete Charlotte Dujardin for one year and imposed a fine of CHF 10,000 ($11,300), effectively concluding the disciplinary proceedings against her,” the governing body said in a statement.
“Dujardin has been provisionally suspended since 23 July, 2024 for engaging in conduct contrary to the principles of horse welfare. The time served during her provisional suspension will be credited towards the one-year suspension.
“During her suspension, Dujardin is prohibited from participating in all activities related to competitions or events under the jurisdiction of the FEI or of a national federation.
“British Equestrian and British Dressage have reciprocated the suspension, resulting in Dujardin’s ineligibility to compete in any national competition or training events during this period.”
Dujardin, Britain’s joint most-decorated British woman Olympian, has won six Olympic medals including individual gold in 2012 and 2016.
