Charlotte Dujardin has said that she “fully respects” the decision to suspend her for one year after a video showed the double individual Olympic dressage champion repeatedly hitting a student's horse with a whip.
Dujardin was provisionally suspended by the International Federation for Equestrian Sports (FEI) on July 23–the week that the Paris Olympics started–as it launched an investigation into a video from four years ago showing her making what she described as “an error of judgement” during a coaching session.
The FEI announced on Thursday that Dujardin had admitted three charges and that it had issued a one-year suspension–backdated to July 23–and a 10,000 Swiss franc fine (around €10,738).
Dujardin said, “I fully respect the verdict issued by the FEI, released today. As the federation has recognised, my actions in the video do not reflect who I am and I can only apologise again. I understand the responsibility that comes with my position in the sport and I will forever aim to do better.
“This has undoubtedly been one of the darkest and most difficult periods of my life and I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has supported me during this time. Every kind word truly has made a difference, more than you'll ever know.”
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