Tokyo Olympics the first step for Chinese equestrian

   LONDON, Jan. 23  -- Alex Hua Tian is looking forward to his third Olympic Games this summer in Tokyo, and it is destined to be a special outing. 
   China will compete in the team event in eventing at Olympics for the first time and Hua believes this is the real first step for Chinese equestrian.
   For the upcoming Chinese New Year, Hua, the long-time pioneer of Chinese equestrian, has already decorated his stable yard in the outskirts of Manchester with many red lanterns. There is even a pair of couplets stuck beside the stable's gate.
   Having spent most of his time in Britain since his youth, Hua couldn't recognize all the Chinese characters on the couplets. However, this will not stop him following the Chinese tradition.
   "In the Chinese New Year, we are still looking after our horses as normally just as when the starting of the season is coming up, so we're busy. But we try to mark it every year although it's really rare that I can spend it with my family. Actually, in this pool house, we normally bring Chinese food in and the whole team comes together and we all eat together," said Hua, taking care of 26 horses with his team and preparing for competitions one after another.
   Hua admitted that when the Chinese Equestrian Association discussed the possibility of team participation at the 2020 Olympics with him two years ago, he really thought it was too little too late.
   "But I have to be very positive about their efforts. And also my fellow riders from China who made that very important and key step to take, challenge themselves and come to Europe," said Hua, who competed individually in eventing at the 2008 Beijing and the 2016 Rio Olympics.
   Last May, Hua led the Chinese eventing team to book a ticket for the Tokyo Olympic Games via a qualifying competition in Saumur, France. In the following four months, Hua and teammate Liang Ruiji met the minimum eligibility requirements, making them eligible for the Olympics.
   "We needed one more qualified rider at the last competition in Europe in Italy. And if they didn't do it, then we would have lost our team slot," Hua explained.
   "But we did it. And now we can look forward to the Olympics in a really positive way. And try and prepare as well as possible."
   "I think that stage I was just so relieved, not just for myself but for my teammates, for my fellow riders because they have taken a huge risk coming to Europe. They've put a lot on the line. They've put a lot of effort, blood, sweat, and tears into this," Hua recalled.
   When Hua was 18, he represented China at Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, becoming the youngest-ever rider in eventing at Olympics. He fell off at the cross country but made many people understood or even knew that the equestrian existed in China.
   He missed the qualification for London Olympics by a small margin then bounced to an eighth-place finish four years later in Rio.
   However, Hua believed "me competing as an individual is half a step. But this (team qualification) is the real first step"."This is the first step in China's targets at the Olympics."
   At the same time, Hua said it's important to manage expectations.
   He said: "It's a sport that takes many years of experience, not just as individual riders, but as an industry and as a structure in China, we still have a huge amount to learn and a huge amount of experience the game. And I think us being competitive at the Tokyo Olympics is unrealistic. I think for me, as a member of the team, I feel that our goal is to get there and to do as well as possible and try and finish with the team."
   Over the past 12 years after the Beijing 2008, the equestrian industry has been growing rapidly in China. And after Rio 2016, Hua has been thinking about how he could be involved more in the development.
   "Many riders do a lot of training, and one to one coaching. And that was something I was interested in doing, but I felt for China and for myself, this wasn't necessarily the right thing to spend my time on.
   "What I wanted to do is try and educate and I guess change perceptions on what the sport represents."
   Hua said becoming an elite rider can be very expensive, but the sport can also be affordable for "lots of people from the middle classes, the working classes" in the UK and they "are able to be involved with horses, whether they have their own horse or they go to riding schools."
   "And for me in China, I want to change this perspective that actually, equestrian sports is for everybody. And everybody can appreciate this beautiful partnership between animal and rider and what they're able to do together."
   After the Chinese New Year, the 30-year-old Hua will start his season with competition in Portugal, aiming to qualify more horses before the deadline of June the 1st. He will go back to China in April to launch his campaign for the Tokyo Olympic Games.
   "At that point, we will be able to share with you and also all of the horse lovers in China and opportunity and ways to get engaged with the equestrian sports of the Olympics and the Chinese team," he said. Xinhua