Charlotte Dujardin

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Charlotte Dujardin
OBE

Dujardin and Valegro compete
at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Personal information
Nationality British
Born (1985-07-13) 13 July 1985
London Borough of Enfield
Residence Newent, Gloucestershire
Sport
Country  United Kingdom
Sport Equestrian dressage
Coached by Carl Hester
Achievements and titles
Olympic finals 2012 Summer Olympics, Gold, team dressage
2012 Summer Olympics, Gold, individual dressage
Medal record
Equestrian
Competitor for  Great Britain
Olympic Games
Gold 2012 London Team dressage
(with Valegro)
Gold 2012 London Individual dressage
(with Valegro)
European Dressage Championships
Gold 2011 Rotterdam Team dressage
(with Valegro)
Gold 2013 Herning Spécial dressage
(with Valegro)
Gold 2013 Herning Freestyle dressage
(with Valegro)
Bronze 2013 Herning Team dressage
(with Valegro)

Charlotte Dujardin OBE (born 13 July 1985) is an elite British dressage rider. Riding Valegro, she won two gold medals (individual dressage, and team dressage with Laura Bechtolsheimer and Carl Hester) at the 2012 Summer Olympics, the first Olympic medals ever won in the discipline by a British rider.

Early life

Born in Enfield, Dujardin was brought up in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire where she attended Vandyke Upper School.[1][2] She started riding as a two-year old,[3] returning her elder sisters' horses from the show jumping ring to the horse box.[4] Aged three, she achieved second place at her first Pony Club show jumping competition outing.[4] To finance their hobby, their mother Jane Dujardin bought and sold ponies for her daughters to ride to enable them to continue riding.[5]

Leaving school aged 16,[6][7] Dujardin won the Horse of the Year Show competition four times and was a winner at Hickstead on three occasions.[7][8]

Career

After encouragement from her trainer, Debbie Thomas,[3] Dujardin took up dressage with a horse bought from her grandmother's inheritance.[4][5] In February 2007, after seeking employment with Carl Hester,[3] he gave her some coaching and spotting her talent he offered her a job as a groom at his yard in Newent, Gloucestershire, where she has since remained.[4][6][7] Dujardin's owned-horse is Fernandez.[3]

In 2011, Dujardin was asked to develop the novice Dutch Warmblood gelding Valegro by Hester and co-owner Roly Luard,[5][9] with the intention of that horse being ridden by Hester.[5] However, after competing in their first dressage Grand Prix event in 2011,[7] 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 point-scoring at 88.022%, in April 2012.[8][10][11] In December 2012 Dujardin, again riding Valegro, won the 2012 World Cup freestyle event held at Olympia with a score or 87.875%.[12]

Olympics

Dujardin and Valegro were selected to represent Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Olympics,[13] and in the first round the team set a new Olympic Record of 83.784%. On 7 August 2012 the pair were members of the team which won the gold medal in the team dressage event.[14] 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;[4] the pair won the gold medal in the individual dressage event with a score of 90.089%.[15]

She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to equestrianism.[16][17]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Double gold medal winner is ex-Vandyke student". Leighton Buzzard Observer. Retrieved 2012-08-25. 
  2. ↑ Dunn, Matthew. "Charlotte Dujardin's lost days at school". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 11 August 2012. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Lizzy Davies (9 August 2012). "Charlotte Dujardin: gold for the woman who could make a donkey dance". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 August 2012. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 "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. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 "Equestrian: 'Unlikely winner' Charlotte Dujardin celebrates double gold". The Independent. 9 August 2012. Retrieved 9 August 2012. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Charlotte Dujardin". www.teamgb.com. Retrieved 7 July 2012. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 "Charlotte Dujardin". www.carlhester.co.uk. Retrieved 7 July 2012. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "London 2012: Charlotte Dujardin breaks dressage world record". BBC Sport. Retrieved 7 July 2012. 
  9. ↑ "BLG 1965, LUARD formerly of Blyborough". Burkes Peerage. Retrieved 21 August 2012. 
  10. ↑ "Dujardin and Valegro take 2012CDA Hagen Grand Prix for special by storm". www.eurodressage.com. Retrieved 7 July 2012. 
  11. ↑ "Charlotte Dujardin triumphs in FEI World Cup grand prix". BBC Sport. Retrieved 7 July 2012. 
  12. ↑ "Charlotte Dujardin wins World Cup freestyle in Olympia". BBC Sport. Retrieved 19 December 2012. 
  13. ↑ "London 2012: Dressage riders Bechtolsheimer and Dujardin selected for Team GB". www.sportsister.com. Retrieved 7 July 2012. 
  14. ↑ "Olympics equestrian: 20 gold medals for GB with dressage win". BBC Sport. Retrieved 7 August 2012. 
  15. ↑ "Olympics equestrian: Charlotte Dujardin wins second dressage gold". BBC Sport. 9 August 2012. Retrieved 9 August 2012. 
  16. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 60367. p. 24. 29 December 2012.
  17. ↑ "2013 New Year's Honours". Retrieved 29 December 2012. 
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Olympic Equestrian Champions in Team Dressage
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