Charlotte Dujardin delighted with Sportswoman nomination
Last Updated: 03/11/15 2:43pm
Charlotte Dujardin is ecstatic with her nomination for the 2015 Sunday Times and Sky Sports Sportswoman of the Year.
The dressage rider won the 2015 award and has been shortlisted again this year alongside Jessica Ennis-Hill, cyclist Lizzie Armitstead, mountain biker Rachel Atherton, taekwondo fighter Bianca Walkden and skeleton racer Lizzy Yarnold.
"To be nominated again this year is a very, very special thing," Dujardin told Tuesday's Sportswomen show on Sky Sports News HQ.
"It's a huge honour to be recognised along with all these other women athletes. There are so many incredible athletes [out there] and it's great to be a part of it, as well as being a role model for younger kids coming through in sport. For us to have that recognition is fantastic."
Dujardin was reigning Olympic, European and World champion when she won Sportswoman of the Year in 2014 and her dominance as a dressage rider shows no sign of abating.
"We've had lots of highlights this year," Dujardin said of her performances with Dutch-born gelding Valegro.
"We've been very lucky; we've competed at the World Cup final in Vegas, which we won. It was incredible to have the opportunity to fly him out there and compete in Vegas and come away winning that title again.
"The Europeans was our main focus for this year and we came away with two individual golds and a team silver so we were really, really happy with our performances."
Dujardin is eager to successfully defend her Olympic team and dressage titles at next year's Rio Olympics and the 30-year-old revealed she will take a cautious approach with Valegro ahead of the Games.
"He's got a long journey to get ready for Rio. He's got a 16-hour flight," she said.
"We've got lots to plan for. We've got to get him acclimatised to the weather and get him fit enough for the travel and the performance.
"So he's going to have a little bit of an easier start at the beginning of the year for the preparation for Rio but we are all really excited."
Watch Sportswomen of the Year awards on Sky Sports 1 and Sky 1 from 9.30pm on Friday, November 6.
