Equestrian Fouaad Mirza impresses at Tokyo Olympics eventing after opening test

Indian equestrian Fouaad Mirza had an impressive outing on his Olympic debut at the Baji Koen Equestrian Park in the dressage round of eventing at Tokyo 2020 on Friday.

In eventing, the horse and rider compete in disciplines of dressage, cross-country and show jumping.

The dressage test involves a prearranged routine to be performed by the horse. The quality of trot, regularity of steps, balance and the harmony between athlete and horse are some of the factors used to judge dressage.

Fouaad Mirza and his 15-year-old horse Seigneur Medicott posted a score of 28 to finish in ninth place after the dressage test.

Defending Olympic champion Michael Jung and his horse Chipmunk Frh lead the standings with 21.10 penalty points.

The goal is to have the fewest penalties, so a lower score is better.

“I’m a competitive person,” Fouaad Mirza told FEI.org. “I’m not interested in just making up the numbers. I came here to do well. My horse is in really good form.

“Everyone wants to finish No.1. We’ll try our very, very best and who knows what we can achieve. It might just be enough to finish among the top few.”

Fouaad Mirza will be in action next in the cross country test at the Sea Forest Cross-Country Course along with the 61 other horse and rider pairs.

The cross country and jumping tests are scheduled for Sunday and Monday, respectively. The combined scores from the three tests will establish the top 25 horse-rider pairs who will compete in the final. 

The final will hold another round of jumping, which will establish the medal winners.