Another top Olympian is out due to a personal scandal.
Charlotte Dujardin, a 39-year-old former Olympic equestrian gold medalist, announced her decision to withdraw from the Paris Olympics on Tuesday over allegations of past animal abuse.Last week, Shoko Miyata, the 19-year-old captain of Japan’s olympic gymnastic team, withdrew from the Olympics over allegations that she smoked and drank alcohol.
Dujardin explained that a four-year-old video surfaced mistreating her horse “during a coaching session” and that she is “deeply ashamed” over how she acted in the video. “I am sincerely sorry for my actions and devastated that I have let everyone down,” she wrote in an Instagram post.
CBS News broke the news of her withdraw on X (formally Twitter):
Olympic equestrian gold medalist Charlotte Dujardin has withdrawn from the Paris games after a years-old video emerged allegedly showing her mistreating a horse. https://t.co/rKp6btmVgc
— CBS News (@CBSNews) July 23, 2024
Dujardin said in her post that the incident does not reflect her true character and she trains her horses and teaches others to train their horses in a proper way.
The International Federation for Equestrian Sports (IFES) wrote in a press release that they received the alleged footage Monday “by a lawyer representing an undisclosed complainant” of Dujardin “engaging in conduct contrary to the principles of horse welfare.” Dujardin communicated to IFES that she was in the video and “that her conduct was inappropriate.” The former gold medalist requested the organization provisionally suspend her “pending the outcome of the investigations,” the organization added.“We are deeply disappointed with this case, especially as we approach the Olympic Games in Paris 2024. However, it is our responsibility and crucial that we address any instances of abuse, as equine welfare cannot be compromised,” FEI President Ingmar De Vos said, the press release read. The president claimed that Dujardin “expressed genuine remorse for her action” and was willing to take responsibility for her actions.
Dujardin is the United Kingdom’s joint most-decorated female Olympian winning gold medals in 2012, 2016 and 2021 in dressage.