Charlotte Dujardin scored 93.857 to successfully defend her individual dressage title on Valegro, taking Britain’s 16th gold medal of the Olympic Games.
Dujardin, who won team silver with Carl Hester, Fiona Bigwood and Spencer Wilton on Friday, beat Germany’s Isabell Werth by over four percentage points to seal the title, taking her personal gold tally to three.
In doing so she joins Laura Trott as the only two female British Olympians with three gold medals and matches Britain’s Richard Meade’s tally of three Olympic equestrian titles.
Team GB Rio 2016 Medal Tally: Gold 16. Silver 16. Bronze 8. Total 40
Charlotte Dujardin said: “It was an amazing feeling in there. I’ve had a really lovely time. I thought this could be the last [time I compete on Valegro], so I had to go in there and enjoy it. I think he knew I was thinking that because he really looked after me and helped me.
“Anything can happen out there. He’s so sensitive. We saw in the Special that my leg just touched him and he went into canter. He’s not naughty, but he’s so sensitive and reacts so quickly that anything can happen. Today, trotting round the edge, I just felt like he picked up.
“I’ve only ridden that floor plan once and that was at Hartpury just before coming out here. I’ve altered a couple of bits of the music. There were things that I hadn’t even tried before and I did it on the day today.
“That’s why he’s just so magical. I can’t even tell you what it’s like to ride him. He has a heart of gold.
“I’m feeling emotional because [Valegro is] going to be retired. We haven’t said when but it’s on the cards to retire, so we’ll go home and make a plan.”
Meanwhile, Sophie Hitchon became the first British athlete in history to win an Olympic hammer throw medal after smashing a dramatic new personal best with her last attempt for bronze in Rio.
British record holder Hitchon, after a no throw, went into medal contention with an effort of 73.29m from her second attempt before being knocked out the top three in the fourth round.
However, Hitchon was not to be denied her moment and secured an historic bronze medal with a big British record of 74.54m with her last thrown sparking huge celebrations.
It was a final to remember not just for Hitchon’s medal but for Anita Wlodarczyk’s world record of 82.29m for gold, set in the third round and bettering her previous mark by over a metre.
Hitchon’s bronze is Team GB’s fourth medal won in track and field in Rio after the gold, silver and bronze won by Mo Farah, Jessica Ennis-Hill and Greg Rutherford on Saturday.
Sophie Hitchon said: “I can believe it a little bit because training has been going so well but to do it in competition is a little bit different. I knew it was there if I pulled together and it is a bit special.
“I wanted to keep my mind quiet [going into the last round] and execute my technique, I have done it again, again and again in training but to do it in competition is a little bit different.
“I didn’t think I had done enough in the second round, I knew the girls could throw further than that and I would never rest on a throw, I always want to push for more.
“Anita is amazing; I have been throwing against her for a few years now. Coming fourth at the World Championships [in 2015] and European Championships [in July], she is always wining but hopefully in few years we can all be clutching at her heels a little bit.
“I don’t think about the history of it going into it. I still think my fourth and fifth rounds were a little bit shaky, I knew I wasn’t quite pulling it together and I knew if I could pull it together it was going to go far, I just kept believing that.”
Report courtesy of Team GB Press Office
