Charlotte Dujardin became Great Britain’s most decorated female Olympian by winning the bronze medal in a tense individual dressage event at Tokyo 2020.
Dujardin, 36, faced a nervous wait to see whether Dorothee Schneider would surpass her mark of 88.543% in the final run of the day but the German rider could not deny her a sixth Olympic medal.
Dujardin’s haul of three gold medals, one silver and two bronze moves her clear of the five medals won by British rower Katherine Grainger and tennis player Kathleen McKane Godfree.
But her run of successive Olympic titles from 2012 and 2016 came to an end, as Germany’s Jessica von Bredow-Werndl scored 91.732% to beat compatriot Isabell Werth into silver on 89.657%.
Had Schneider overtaken Dujardin she would have secured an all-German podium in the event for the first time since 1992.
Gold medallist Von Bredow-Werndl executed a masterful display on her Olympic debut, guiding her horse TSF Dalera meticulously to the soundtrack of hit 2016 film ‘La La Land’.
Gio delivers for Dujardin
Dujardin’s success at previous Games had come aboard the now-retired Valegro, a horse immortalised with a statue in Dujardin’s hometown of Newent in Gloucestershire.
Her new mount – named Gio but nicknamed ‘Pumpkin’ after arriving in her stable around Halloween – stood up admirably to the challenging Tokyo heat and the pressure of an Olympic event.
BBC Sport equestrian expert Bobby Hayler said: “This will mean an awful lot to Charlotte Dujardin. She will be incredibly proud of such a young horse, but a very, very capable young horse.”
More to follow.