Charlotte Dujardin says motherhood has provided her with that extra motivation she needs to dethrone Laura Kenny as Team GB’s most decorated female Olympian this summer at Paris 2024.
One of the most dominant dressage riders of her era, Dujardin travels to France already with six Olympic medals and three golds to her name, writing herself into British sporting folklore.
Kenny, who retired earlier this year, also owns six medals with five of them gold but could be eclipsed by Dujardin, who has strong hopes in both the individual and team dressage competitions.
But as a new mother, giving birth to Isabella in March 2023, she possesses a whole new source of drive as she seeks to make her baby girl proud and take Kenny’s crown at the pinnacle of British sport.
“I think in a way it does push me more because obviously I want to make her proud,” said Dujardin, 38.
“I’m very well driven and I’m always out there to succeed and bring back some medals if I can. I’d never go down without a fight, and to have my little girl there is really, really special.”
With history beckoning at Chateau de Versailles, where the Paris 2024 Olympic dressage will be held, it’s vital that Dujardin doesn’t let the heightened expectations get to her.
However, in full knowledge of how to succeed on the big stage, she is hardly feeling the pressure – opening up on her secret to success.
“I know it’s an Olympics and it’s obviously a huge honour to be going to represent a country, but I always just look at it as another competition,” she added.
“I don’t know if this is a crazy thing to say. I just do exactly the same as what I do all the time, so don’t try and make it more than it is.
“If I can bring back some medals, which I will for sure be out there to be doing, then fantastic. And if not, it will be back to the drawing board and work a bit harder and see what I can do another year.”
Dujardin is one of over 1,000 elite athletes on UK Sport’s National Lottery-funded World Class Programme, allowing them to train full time, have access to the world’s best coaches and benefit from pioneering medical support. This is vital for her pathway to the Paris 2024 Games.
While securing two bronze medals in the individual and team events in Tokyo, her last Olympic experience was slightly tainted by the lack of fans or family present, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
This came after Rio 2016, which again lacked much of a partisan British faithful due to the outbreak of Zika virus.
But with Paris just a short jaunt across the channel away, Dujardin is hopeful that the atmosphere will be similar to that of London 2012.
She said: “In London, we had a fantastic Olympics and then in Rio, there was Zika virus. Nobody really wanted to travel to Rio so we didn’t really have friends and family come out, we didn’t really have many spectators.
“And then there was Covid in Tokyo, so we’ve had two Olympics which have had no spectators and no atmosphere. It’s just been us.
“Now all of a sudden we’re going to have that whole support back and be there with the crowds and everything. It’s going to be fantastic.”
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