The International Equestrian Federation (FEI) announced on Thursday the suspension for one year of the British Charlotte Dujardin.
The three-time Olympic dressage champion was guilty of an isolated act of mistreatment of a horse.
The 39-year-old rider had been provisionally suspended since July 23 pending the conclusion of an investigation. The sanction unveiled on Wednesday will end in 2025 on the same date. ‘On July 22, 2024, the FEI received a video, submitted by a lawyer representing an unnamed plaintiff, showing Dujardin excessively whipping a horse during a training session in a private stable’, reported the federation.
Dujardin herself immediately announced her withdrawal from the 2024 Paris Olympics, where she could have become the most decorated British sportswoman in Olympic history. ‘What happened is not me or how I train my horses or how I train my students, but there is no excuse. I am deeply ashamed and I should have set a better example at that time,’ Dujardin said, specifying that the video in question dated ‘four years’ ago.
A fine of 10,000 Swiss francs, or approximately 10,700 euros, was also imposed on the rider, who was also deprived of national competitions during her suspension. Charlotte Dujardin acknowledged the facts and fully cooperated with the international federation, the latter said in a press release.
Since the start of the affair, the FEI ‘has not received any other complaints’ concerning possible other acts of mistreatment of the six-time Olympic medalist.
/ATS
Swiss
