BRITISH dressage medals used to be rarer than rocking horse droppings.
We had never won one in a sport dominated by Germany until landing team gold
earlier this week.
But yesterday a former stable girl who went to a comprehensive school and a
billionaire’s granddaughter added TWO more.
Charlotte Dujardin, 27, took the individual event on ten-year-old Valegro —
dubbed the “Lionel Messi of horses” by experts after the Barcelona
footballing genius.
Laura Bechtolsheimer, 26, won bronze on 17-year-old Mistral Hojris, who is
nicknamed Alf.
And although winner Charlotte’s mount is valued at £6million, she didn’t have
the gilded upbringing typically associated with the world of “horse ballet”.
Born in Enfield, North London, she left Vandyke Upper School, in Leighton
Buzzard, Beds, at 16, and bought her first horse with inheritance money
after her gran died.
Charlotte, who was also part of the gold-winning team, said: “My parents don’t
have a lot of money. This is quite expensive for us.”
Yesterday, she and Valegro — said to have a “telepathic understanding” —
performed perfectly in tandem to the Great Escape theme and Land of Hope and
Glory. The 23,000 packed into the Greenwich Park stands loved it.
Gelding Valegro must have sensed this wasn’t a normal hack in the park.
Charlotte said later: “He gave his all. He was tired but he has unbelievable
power.”
Charlotte, trained by teammate Carl Hester — Valegro’s part-owner — added:
“He’s going out in the field now for a holiday!”
She is only the fourth British woman after Dame Kelly Holmes, Rebecca
Adlington and Laura Trott to win double gold at one Games.
Proud mum Jane said: “I always knew she would be a star.” Charlotte, whose mum
and dad run a horse rug cleaning firm in Finmere, Bucks, was joined on the
podium by Laura, whose granddad is magnate Karl-Heinz Kipp.
She’d left Valegro with a groom after riding into the arena to wild cheers to
collect her medal. The horse is clearly a wonderful equine athlete. Team GB
equestrian director Will Connell said: “Valegro has taken dressage to
another level.”
In a contest relying on the perfect understanding of human and animal, I began
to wonder if it would have been more fitting if the horses, too, had been
honoured with a medal.
Olympicks — your daily digest
Brit medal hopes:
12pm WEATHER permitting, 470 sailing crew Luke Patience and Stuart
Bithell will win gold or silver in their final race.
1pm WOMEN’S 470 crewHnnah Mills and Saskia Clark battle New Zealand for
gold at Weymouth
3pm BOXER Anthony Ogogo, 23, from Great Yarmouth, bids to reach
the middleweight final. Bronze already in bag.
3.30pm OUR women’s hockey team will go for bronze against New
Zealand, having missed out on the final.
4.30pm BMX star Shanaze Reade, 23 — fifth fastest qualifier — is a
medal hope if she reaches this final.
9.30pm WELTERWEIGHT Fred Evans, 21, fights in the semis to bag Wales’s
first boxing medal in 40 years.
Tweet of the day
“GRRRRRR. Letterbox in Stockton painted gold in honour of rower second to be
vandalised.” Jeremy Vine
Quote of the day
“To come fourth is not too bad, but not quite what I wanted for the crowd.”
Swimmer Keri-Anne Payne.
LOLOlympics
IT’S bad news for seven BMX riders as they pile into each other in the men’s
quarter-final.
But it’s great news for sole survivor Marc Willers, from New Zealand, as he
pedals home to an easy win.
Moany Tony — the Sun’s Olympic winner
I’VE had stick for moaning about the Olympics but I hadn’t realised that it’s
now a criminal offence.
Mark Worsfold was nicked for “failing to smile or look like he was enjoying
himself” at a bike race. Bit of a mix-up, it seems. But if LOOKING grouchy
attracts the attention of the Olympic Police, I must be Public Enemy No1.
I’ll need a disguise. Little Union Jack, check. Team GB wristband, check.
Outsize 2012 glasses, check. One last thing before going out: Look in
mirror, grit teeth… and SMILE.