Sports

Charlotte Dujardin out of Olympics after video. Gold medalist is suspended

Chris Bumbaca
USA TODAY
Published 1:37 p.m. ET July 23, 2024 | Updated 9:28 a.m. ET July 24, 2024

PARIS – One of the most decorated members of the Great Britain Olympic delegation has withdrawn from the 2024 Paris Olympics following an equine-abuse investigation. ... Equestrian athlete Charlotte Dujardin, a three-time Olympic gold medalist in dressage, announced the news Tuesday after a video she said was from four years ago surfaced and showed her acting “completely out of character.” The International Federation for Equestrian Sports (FEI) investigation resulted in a six-month suspension, the body announced.

The FEI said it received a video Tuesday “depicting Ms. Dujardin engaging in conduct contrary to the principles of horse welfare.” A lawyer representing the unidentified 19-year old complainant sent the video to the FEI and told The Guardian that the incident took place several years ago during a training session at a private facility.

“Charlotte Dujardin was in the middle of the arena,” the attorney, Stephan Wensing, told the UK-based publication. “She said to the student: ‘Your horse must lift up the legs more in the canter.’ She took the long whip and she was beating the horse more than 24 times in one minute. It was like an elephant in the circus."

Wensing said he received the go-ahead to file the complaint after his client saw suspensions of other dressage trainers around the world over abuse allegations. One of the more prominent cases involved American Cesar Parra, who was born in Colombia and competed in the 2004 Games. Parra was provisionally suspended in February after social media videos went viral that showed abusive training methods including whipping horses.

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