London 2012 Olympics: Dujardin rides to double gold

The 27-year-old is only the fourth British female athlete to win double gold at one Games after Kelly Holmes, Rebecca Adlington and Laura Trott.

She won the dressage individual competition yesterday afternoon on her brilliant ten-year-old horse Valegro, following the team gold of two days ago with her colleagues Carl Hester and Laura Bechtolsheimer.

Bechtolsheimer also won individual bronze aboard Mistral Hojris – Hester was fifth with Uthopia – to give British equestrian a record five medals at one Games following showjumping team gold and eventing team silver.

“That was unbelievable,” Dujardin  declared following the medal ceremony.

“It is always something I’ve known the horse could achieve, but I didn’t  really know how I was going to find the atmosphere and the expectation.

“But when I got that phone call (last month) to say I had made the team for London, I was so determined.

“Not many people are going to have the chance that I’ve had to get to the Olympics in a year and a bit of competing in grand prix. I wanted to go out there and enjoy it.

“All I could do was to do my best. Valegro was feeling tired, but he got in there and he gave his all.”

Enfield-born Dujardin was the last rider to go, and she broke her third  Olympic record in three separate  London disciplines by scoring 90.089 per cent.

It eclipsed Dutch rider Adelinde Cornelissen and Parzival’s score of 88.196 per cent, while Bechtolsheimer was third on 84.339 per cent.

Dujardin burst into tears when her score flashed up on the scoreboard. Her freestyle routine to music was crammed with patriotic British tunes such as Land of Hope and Glory and I Vow to Thee, My Country, and also included the chimes of Big Ben.

And there was a Last Night Of The Proms feel in Greenwich’s main arena as she became only the second British equestrian athlete to win double gold at one Games, following eventer  Richard Meade 40 years ago. Dujardin had earlier set Olympic records in the grand and grand prix special tests that forged the team competition.

Dujardin, who trains with Hester at his yard in Gloucestershire, had been  favourite for individual gold, however she had to ride under intense pressure after Cornelissen set a stunning standard.

She started working with Hester in 2007 – she was encouraged to take up dressage after buying a demonstration DVD Hester had produced – and their partnership quickly flourished.

An elated Bechtolsheimer, meanwhile, said: “I don’t think words can  describe how my test felt.

“I am so emotional just thinking about it. It was by far his best test.

“He was full of power and energy, and I really felt like I could ride every movement to the maximum.

“I felt I could really show how well trained he is, and he was on the button. It didn’t feel like I had to overly ride anything.

“The crowd was incredible again. They have carried me, Charlotte and Carl through.

“More medals are a fantastic way to say thank you to them.”