Carl Hester, Charlotte Fry and Becky Moody won bronze for Great Britain in the dressage team Grand Prix Special after overcoming the pressure generated by the ban handed to star rider Charlotte Dujardin on the eve of the Games.
The British team qualified in third place for the final behind Germany and Denmark, but took an early lead after Moody, the late replacement for Dujardin, scored 76.489% aboard Jagerbomb.
Hester was next up on Fame, slightly bettering Moody’s mark with 76.520%, with Fry last to ride for Team GB with Glamourdale. While she secured a score of 79.483%, it was good enough only for third behind Germany and Denmark. Nonetheless, a medal of any colour represented a significant achievement for the British trio after the furore a few days before the opening ceremony at Paris 2024 which led Dujardin to withdraw.
Dujardin was provisionally suspended by equestrian’s governing body, the International Federation for Equestrian Sports (FEI), pending an investigation into a video from four years ago that showed her repeatedly hitting a student’s horse with a whip from the ground during a coaching session.
Hester, who enjoyed a long relationship with Dujardin as her mentor, said: “It’s been really difficult, very hard, and as I said before, we’ve had to put it out of our minds. I’ve had to concentrate on the team and I’m lucky in a way that I had Becky to deal with every day and help, which helps me focus on something else.
“We have full-time jobs, most of us, then you come here and you have one horse to ride and you’re just going out of your mind with what not to think about all day and what to do all day. It’s been a long week but I feel fantastic now it’s done.”
While Hester was appearing at his seventh Olympics, Moody was enjoying a dream debut with her gelding Jagerbomb, who she bred herself. She said: “What an incredible stadium and the crowd were fantastic and my horse was a total legend. Because I bred him and we’ve done everything together, he’s just a total dude, a lovely, lovely horse.
“He’s been quite spicy here this week and Carl has helped me out an awful lot to find that inner calm in both of us, but it has been fantastic and he’s been amazing.”
Dujardin had been looking for one more medal in Paris to overtake cyclist Laura Kenny as the most decorated British female Olympian on seven. She apologised in a statement, saying: “A video has emerged from four years ago which shows me making an error of judgment during a coaching session.
“Understandably, the FEI is investigating and I have made the decision to withdraw from all competition – including the Paris Olympics – while this process takes place. What happened was completely out of character and does not reflect how I train my horses or coach my pupils, however there is no excuse. I am deeply ashamed and should have set a better example in that moment. I am sincerely sorry for my actions and devastated that I have let everyone down.”
The FEI announced that she had been suspended from the sport for six months while Team GB named Moody as her replacement for the dressage competition.
