A dressage trainer who witnessed Charlotte Dujardin whipping a horse during a coaching session has denied being a ‘whistleblower’ and says the disgraced Team GB star ‘has many enemies’.
Alicia Dickinson was identified as one of three people who saw Britain’s joint-most decorated female Olympian repeatedly striking a horse up to 24 times on the legs in the space of a minute.
But the Australian coach, who lives in London, has moved to dismiss claims she was the one who leaked the shocking footage just days before the Olympics start in Paris.
‘This week’s media revelations regarding Charlotte Dujardin have been difficult to process,’ she wrote on Instagram.
‘I would like to make clear: I am not the whistleblower. I did not film the footage. Any online speculation is unfounded.
‘Our business relationship ended after the lesson shown in the video.’
Ms Dickinson, who is understood to be linked to a Dutch dressage stable, claims she was ‘thrown under the bus’ by Dujardin after the video from four years ago came to light.
She added: ‘Charlotte has many enemies. It could have been anyone [who leaked the video] but I got the backlash.’
Dujardin, 39, was forced to quit the Olympics and in doing so, destroyed her chances of becoming the UK’s most successful ever female athlete.
Dutch equine lawyer Stephan Wensing filed a complaint of animal cruelty against Dujardin earlier this week but has refused to reveal who sent him the footage.
‘It’s not fun to ruin a career,’ he said. ‘[My client] is not celebrating; she doesn’t feel like a hero. But she told me this had to be done as she wants to save dressage.’
It’s not yet known if the supplier of the video is also from the Netherlands, which has always been one of Team GB’s closest rivals in equestrian sports.
Team NL, which narrowly lost to Team GB in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, condemned Dujardin’s actions but deny any involvement in sharing the clip.
A spokesman for the Dutch team said: ‘This has no place in our equestrian sports where the welfare of the horse comes first.
‘We are aware the video was released by a Dutch lawyer but would like to emphasise that the origin and the release has got no relation whatsoever to the Dutch Olympic team. We only just saw the video after it was published.’
British Dressage chief Mark Brautigam also criticised Dujardin but questioned the timing of the video’s release.
He said: ‘Let me be clear: the actions we have witnessed in that video are completely unacceptable. We have all been shocked and appalled by this indefensible conduct.’
However, he added: ‘I do find claims that this was done to “save dressage” somewhat disingenuous, given that it was timed to cause maximum damage to our sport.’
Dujardin, who was given a six-month provisional ban, saw her lottery funding suspended and was dumped by at least three sponsors, said she is ‘deeply ashamed’ of what she did.
She said: ‘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 sincerely sorry for my actions and devastated that I have let everyone down, including Team GB, fans and sponsors.
‘I will cooperate fully with the FEI, British Equestrian Federation and British Dressage during their investigations, and will not be commenting further until the process is complete.’
The Olympics was urged to ban all equestrian events following the incident, which is just one of many scandals to rock this summer’s games in France before it even gets under way.
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