Great Britain's Charlotte Dujardin has retained her Olympic title in the individual dressage freestyle final in Rio. The 31-year-old rider defended the title she won four years ago in London with a virtually flawless performance.

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The Enfield-born rider and current world record holder produced one of the best performances of her career to leapfrog Germany's Kristina Broring-Sprehe to take first place on the leaderboard. Following her eye-catching, incident-free ride, Dujardin was reduced to tears as she waited to hear her result.

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She was awarded a score of 93.857, with four riders still to perform. But her effort proved to be well beyond the other competitors, meaning Dujardin claimed Great Britain's 16th gold medal of the 2016 Olympic Games and the first of day 10 in Rio.

The silver medal went to Germany's Isabell Werth and the bronze to Broring-Sprehe. But Dujardin and her horse Valegro lived up to their pre-Games billing to add to their increasingly-impressive medal collection.

"I have just had the best ride. I've gone out there and Valegro has given me everything," Dujardin subsequently told the BBC. "I felt so emotional doing the last bit. We've all had a cry. It's the most amazing feeling when you go in there and they've tried their heart out."

Dujardin also paid tribute to Valegro, with whom she is unbeaten in 18 consecutive competitions. "I'm happy to go give Valegro some more sugar, some treats and apples. I'm so happy," she enthused. "I feel a little bit overwhelmed with what's happened. I feel really emotional."