An Olympic athlete from Great Britain has withdrawn from the Games just days before the opening ceremony due to a video showing alleged mistreatment of a horse.

Charlotte Dujardin, an equestrian rider, is accused of “engaging in conduct contrary to the principles of horse welfare.” 

Dujardin said a video “from four years ago … which shows me making an error of judgment during a coaching session,” recently emerged, leading to an investigation.

“Understandably, the International Federation for Equestrian Sports (FEI) is investigating, and I have made the decision to withdraw from all competition — including the Paris Olympics — while this process takes place,” the three-time gold medalist said in a statement.

“What happened was completely out of character and does not reflect how I train horses or coach my pupils, however there is no excuse. I am deeply ashamed and should have set a better example in that moment. 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.”

Dujardin will also be under a six-month suspension by the FEI.

Charlotte Dujardin with Imhotep in a competition during the Team Grand Prix at the FEI European Championships Dressage 2023 Sept. 7, 2023, in Horstel, Germany.  (Jenny Musall/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)

ANDY MURRAY ANNOUNCES PLANS TO RETIRE AFTER 2024 PARIS OLYMPICS

It is unclear what the nature of the video is that prompted the investigation.

Dujardin earned gold twice in 2012, winning both the team and individual dressage events. She won gold in the individual event in 2016 in Rio and won silver in the team event. Dujardin earned a bronze in both events in 2021 in Tokyo.

She and cyclist Dame Laura Kenny each share the record for most medals won at the Olympics by a female athlete from Great Britain with six each.

Charlotte Dujardin from Great Britain waves.  (Rolf Vennenbernd/picture alliance via Getty Images)

Dujardin rode the horse Valegro from 2011 until the horse’s retirement in 2016.

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It came down to the final minutes.

The Rams kept pushing back coach Sean McVay’s first training camp news conference at Loyola Marymount on Tuesday by an hour. Then another. Then another.

McVay and Rams executives were locked in talks with quarterback Matthew Stafford and his agent about a contract adjustment that Stafford had sought since the end of last season.

Finally, the Rams and the 15-year veteran agreed to terms of an adjustment that is not an extension, McVay said, declining to provide details of the deal.

“I am relieved that it got done,” McVay said in an understatement.

Stafford, 36, was scheduled to earn $31 million this season and carry a salary-cap number of $49.5 million, according to Overthecap.com.

Stafford had two additional years remaining on the extension he signed in 2022 after leading the Rams to a Super Bowl title. But only $15 million of his $27 million salary in 2025 and none of $26 million in 2026 was guaranteed, a person with knowledge of the situation said.

Had Stafford not reported to training camp by noon Tuesday, he would have incurred $50,000-a-day fines mandated by the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement.

Was McVay prepared for a potential holdout?

“There was communication that existed,” McVay said, “and fortunately here’s where we are and it didn’t have to be able to get to that.”

Stafford, who was traded to the Rams in 2021 and then led them to the Super Bowl, has not spoken to reporters publicly since the Detroit Lions spoiled his homecoming by defeating the Rams in an NFC wild-card game at Detroit last January.

Since, Lions quarterback Jared Goff and Jacksonville quarterback Trevor Lawrence reset the quarterback market with huge extensions.

McVay said Tuesday that Stafford approached him “right around free-agency time,” and informed him that his representatives would be contacting the Rams.

During the NFL draft in April, NFL.com reported Stafford was seeking an adjustment that would give him more guaranteed money beyond this season. McVay acknowledged the report and said the Rams would work to come to a resolution.

“There’s nothing that’s more important than making sure that he feels appreciated and he knows how much we love him and want him to lead the way,” McVay had said, “and, you know, I think that the commitment that I think he wants to have can be reciprocated and we want to work toward figuring that out.”

Stafford attended voluntary offseason workouts and organized-team activities but was not made available to reporters. McVay said in June he expected Stafford to report for the start of training camp.

The Rams and Stafford’s camp engaged in conversations, some of which were “somewhat close” and others that were “really far off,” McVay said.

On Tuesday, the day before the Rams were set to begin on-field preparations for the Sept. 8 opener at Detroit, it finally got done. McVay, Stafford and team vice president Tony Pastoors were on site at Loyola Marymount, and general manager Les Snead, team president Kevin Demoff and Stafford’s agent, Jimmy Sexton, were on the phone, McVay said.

“There was a lot of great dialogue that existed,” McVay said, adding, “and ultimately it was all geared towards finding a solution that really suits our team but also accommodates some of the things that represent Matthew’s worth for us.”

The Rams are aiming to improve upon last season’s better-than-anticipated 10-7 finish and playoff appearance.

That almost certainly would not be possible without Stafford.

His value — and leverage — were seemingly heightened by the Rams’ backup quarterback situation.

Veteran Jimmy Garoppolo is suspended for the first two games against the Lions and Arizona Cardinals for violating the NFL’s performance-enhancing substances policy while playing for the Las Vegas Raiders. Stetson Bennett is essentially a rookie after sitting out last season to address what he has acknowledged were mental health issues.

Did Garoppolo’s and Bennett’s situations play a role in the Rams finally coming to an agreement with Stafford?

“You never know, do ya?,” McVay said.

Before McVay spoke to reporters and announced that a deal with Stafford had been reached, several players fielded questions about the then unresolved situation.

Steve Avila, a second-year pro moving from left guard to center, said he had to be ready regardless of who was taking snaps.

“Let’s just say, knock on wood, he is not able to play a week,” Avila said. “I have to be prepared for whoever’s back there, so I guess that’s how I’ll approach camp.”

Offensive tackle Rob Havenstein, a 10th-year pro, did not detail how it might affect preparation if Stafford’s situation remained unresolved.

“I’m not going to get into hypotheticals of anything — of what could be this, what could be that, whatever it comes down to,” said Havenstein, the longest-tenured Rams player. “We’re just getting settled in, so we’ll see how things go.”

Now, with Stafford’s deal done, McVay and the Rams can go forward.

“Grateful that we came to the solution that I think we all wanted,” McVay said, “and now we can focus on this team and him leading the way.”

From the sprints to the jumps to the throws to the road races, track and field events have long been the heartbeat of the Summer Olympics, and the 2024 Games in Paris won’t be any different.

Ranging from the 100-meter to the marathon, there are 16 running events (including two relays, the 20km race walk and the two mixed events). Adding in the four jumping events (pole vault, high jump, long jump and triple jump), the four throwing events (shot put, discus, hammer throw and javelin) and the heptathlon/decathlon, there will be a total of 48 athletics events at the 2024 Games.

That makes track and field by far the most contested sport at the Olympics.

With more to watch for than in any other sport, here’s what you’ll need to know.

Schedule (all times ET)

With so many events and many of those events involving multiple rounds of competition, here’s a list of the final rounds for each discipline. The full schedule of events is here.

World records in danger

Men’s pole vault: Sweden’s Mondo Duplantis has already established his case as pole vaulting’s GOAT, having broken and re-broken his own world record seven times. The former LSU standout most recently broke the mark in April at the Xiamen Diamond League meet, clearing 6.24 meters.

Women’s 200-meter: Could this be the year Florence Griffith-Joyner’s 36-year-old record goes down? Her time of 21.34 seconds hasn’t been touched, but Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson and America’s Gabby Thomas are serious contenders. Jackson ran 21.41, the second-fastest time in history, at the 2023 world championships, while Thomas ran a 21.78 in the semifinals of the U.S. trials in June en route to her victory.

Men’s shot put: Behind Duplantis, American Ryan Crouser has a case for the world’s most dominant athlete in track and field. He’s set the record twice, most recently at the Los Angeles Grand Prix in 2023, tossing 23.56 meters. Crouser has had marks of 22.84 and 22.80 meters in 2024. Fellow American Joe Kovacs has the best throw of the year with a 23.13-meter mark in May.

Men’s triple jump: Great Britain’s Jonathan Edwards’ world-record mark of 18.29 meters has stood since 1995, but a pair of young competitors have the record in sight. Cuban Jordan Díaz, who represents Spain internationally, jumped 18.18 meters in June to win the European championships with the third-best leap ever. In the U.S., Jamaican 19-year-old Jaydon Hibbert won the 2023 Bowerman Award (track’s Heisman) after repeatedly breaking the U20 world record for Arkansas, ending the season with an NCAA-record 17.87 meters at the SEC championships.

Women’s 400-meter hurdles: American star Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone has struggled with injuries, but when she is on, she’s the best the world has ever seen in the 400-meter hurdles. She broke her own record for the fourth time with a time of 50.65 seconds in June at the U.S. Olympic trials. She could beat it again in Paris, but she’ll have to hold off Netherlands’ Femke Bol, who became the second woman to run sub-51 when she ran 50.95 seconds to break her own European record on July 14.

Women’s 400 meters: Speaking of Bol, the Dutch star ran a 49.17 to win the 400-meter indoor world championship in March, breaking her own world indoor record in the process. The overall record of 47.60 was set by Marita Koch of East Germany in 1985.

Men’s 400-meter hurdles: Norwegian Karsten Warholm and American Rai Benjamin had a battle for the ages at the 2020 Olympics, which ended with Warholm breaking his old world record in the event with a time of 45.94. He bested Benjamin again at the 2023 world championships, but Benjamin posted a world-leading time of 46.46 at the U.S. Olympic trials in June to set the stage for a thrilling rematch.

Team USA stars to watch

There is no bigger American track name than Sha’Carri Richardson. After she was unable to compete at the 2020 Games due to a suspension, the U.S. star is ready to make a splash in Paris in the 100-meter. She defended her U.S. title with a win at the trials, running 10.71. Her PR of 10.65 ties Jackson for fifth-best ever.

In the men’s 100, Noah Lyles caught plenty of attention for tucking “Yu-Gi-Oh!” cards in his singlet before races at the trials, but even more attention for his dominant performances. He won both the 100 and the 200, tying his 100-meter PR of 9.83 and then breaking a 28-year-old trials record in the 200 with a time of 19.53, positioning himself as an Olympic favorite in both events.

In the relays, teenage sensation Quincy Wilson will become the youngest male competitor in U.S. Olympic track history. The 16-year-old finished sixth at the trials in the 400 with a time of 44.94, leaving him out of the running for the open 400 but earning a slot on the relay team.

While Americans love the mile, the international stage runs the 1,500-meter, and U.S. fans should be eager to catch Yared Nuguse and Cole Hocker mix it up with the world’s best. Nuguse was considered a contender to break up the dominant rivalry of Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Great Britain’s Josh Kerr, and then Hocker stunned Nuguse and the world by upsetting Nuguse at the Olympic trials.

Hocker’s winning time of 3:30.59 broke the trials record by 3.5 seconds and showed he has the world-class fitness to mix it up at Paris.

In the women’s 1,500, Nikki Hiltz will lead the American charge. Hiltz identifies as transgender and nonbinary and won the trials with a personal-best time of 3:55.33.

Grant Holloway will be seeking Olympic vengeance in the men’s 110-meter hurdles, as he owns the world’s fastest time in 2024 but finished as the runner-up in Tokyo. He’s run sub-13 seconds three times this year and was joined under 13 seconds by Freddie Crittenden and Daniel Roberts, the first time in trials history three hurdlers broke that time barrier.

How to watch

TV: NBC, USA, E!, Telemundo and Universo

Streaming: Peacock, NBCOlympics.com, NBC.com, the NBC app and the NBC Olympics app

In addition to the medal events listed above, there will be morning sessions Aug. 2-9 beginning at 4 a.m. ET featuring preliminary rounds airing live on E! or USA. Check here for full day-by-day TV and streaming info. Medal events will be heavily featured in NBC’s tape-delayed prime-time coverage.

Stars not in action

The most notable name in track who won’t be competing in Paris this summer is Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson-Herah, the two-time defending Olympic champion in the 100 and 200. She withdrew from the Jamaican Olympic Trials and later revealed she was dealing with an Achilles injury.

Thompson-Herah’s 100-meter time of 10.51 in 2021 made her the second-fastest woman in history behind Griffith-Joyner.

From the U.S., 800-meter star Athing Mu will miss out on her chance to defend her Olympic gold medal after she fell around the 200-meter mark in the semifinals of the Olympic trials and couldn’t catch back up to the leaders. The 22-year-old’s coach argued Mu was clipped from behind, but their protest was denied.

Mu is the American record holder in the event and became the first American, male or female, to win Olympic gold in the 800 since Dave Wottle in 1972.

Venezuelan fans will feel a similar sting with the absence of Yulimar Rojas, one of the greatest jumpers in world history. She’s nicknamed “la reina del triple salto” (queen of the triple jump) for good reason: She broke a 25-year-old record in the event at the 2021 Olympics and then broke her own record a couple years later, leaping 15.74 meters.

In April, she suffered an Achilles injury during a training session and subsequently announced she would miss the Olympics.

In memoriam

Kelvin Kiptum had all the makings of the next GOAT in the marathon. The 24-year-old broke the world record in the fabled event in his third career marathon, running 2:00:35 to take 34 seconds off the previous record, setting up a showcase for the ages with compatriot Eliud Kipchoge, who previously held the world record and is also recognized as the greatest marathoner ever after becoming the first man to run sub-2 hours in a controlled race environment.

Then tragedy struck, as Kiptum died in a car accident in February.

Kipchoge will lead the Kenyan team as he looks to become the first person to win three Olympic gold medals in the marathon, but the event will certainly carry an air of sadness as fans miss out on what could have been a generational passing of the torch.

Required reading

(Photo of Noah Lyles and Sha’Carri Richardson: Tim Clayton / Corbis via Getty Images)