Charlotte Dujardin, 27, who only started to ride at the Grand Prix level of dressage in January 2011, has done two extraordinary things: she has one Great Britain’s first individual Gold dressage medal and she did it wearing a helmet rather than a top hat. She saves her top hat for unmounted ceremonies.
After Courtney King-Dye’s accident, several top riders started to wear helmets in training and even in the warm up ring but they felt that they would be marked down by judges if they wore them in competition. Apparently, that’s not true. Dujardin set a new record score in the Grand Prix Freestyle of 90.089%.
What an incredible role model. In just a few minutes in the ring she made wearing a helmet be cool! Charles Owen must be thrilled, too.
Maybe the judges wanted to reward wearing a helmet rather than having the person who rode flawless, award the gold.
I would say that Charlotte’s Olympic performance emphasized the importance of both skill and safety. In her position as an equestrian role model, if her decision to put safety before pride saves the lives of other impressionable young riders ( regardless of nationality) then this lady must be congratulated on two levels. Courtney King Dye, the wonderful American Olympic dressage rider had her career halted when she suffered a serious brain trauma injury in 2010. She was not wearing a hat when her horse tripped and fell on her. The latter is now a strong advocate of ‘helmets4 riders.’ She reminds professional and amateur riders pertinently, in a commentary seen on you tube, that safety hasn’t got anything to do with skill. If anyone can speak with authority she can. I am proud of Charlotte for showing the equestrian world that although she has skill in abundance, she is a charismatic rider who puts safety first. Well done Charlotte.