Charlotte Dujardin

“For most athletes, there's a focus on your own fitness, but I have to rely on my horse, too. I've been very lucky so far, and it hasn't presented a problem, but you can never count on a competition going as planned until you're there and actually doing it.”

“I owe my mum Jane a lot, as she's supported me all the way, so I'm very lucky.”

“That's why success hasn't changed me: because I don't want to be famous or do TV or be a model or be recognised in a shop. I'm not interested. There's nothing worse.”

“At an event in Germany, I realised the organisers had 'The Great Escape' playing as background music to my test, and I just thought, 'It's really cool. I want that.' It is fantastic to ride to.”

“I'm really lucky that I can control my nerves; it doesn't seem to get to me.”

“I have come from a background where I haven't had lots of money to put me on the map. I've had to work very hard for what I've got.”

“It's going to be a rule, I think, for wearing a crash hat, and I actually fractured my skull through not wearing a hat. I was so lucky to escape from that, and now, it's something I always do.”

“I've done more than I ever dreamed of.”

“I was frightened. I hadn't really had any experience, and then all of a sudden I was thrown straight into doing interviews. Most people have build-up. I had none.”

“The sport is about finding the horses. But to find another Valegro is impossible.”

“Every competition I do, I never know if it's the last one.”

“I don't ever want to be famous. I never want to live that life. I genuinely hate the fact that I would be stopped for a picture or an autograph all the time.”

“All you can do is to do your best.”

“I've been riding Valegro since he was four or five years old.”

“The fan mail I get every day is incredible. It piles through the door from not just Britain but everywhere. It is so great to have that support behind me - everyone says I am an inspiration. It is great.”

“My ultimate dream was to get to the Olympics. I never thought I would come away with two gold medals.”

“As much as you may be sitting in the top five or the top 10, sometimes you just don't get that chance to get to the top.”

“I turned the Gloucester Christmas lights on and our local Newent lights on, so everyone recognises me now. It is a completely different life for me.”

“For me, I wouldn't mind if I never did another Olympics; nothing can beat London. The setting, the support, the military people. From start to finish, it was such fun. I had the most amazing time.”

“I never think of who's in the competition. I never let myself get in that frame of mind, worrying about who I'm against.”