picture of the day

Easy riding

7 Comments

Hiroshi Hoketsu, of Japan, tips his hat to the crowd after competing with his horse Whisper in the equestrian dressage at the Olympics in London on Thursday. Hoketsu, 71, is the oldest competitor at the Games. Hoketsu scored 68.72% in his Grand Prix dressage test on his 15-year-old chestnut mare, putting him in the middle of the pack of the day’s 25 riders and out of medal contention.

© Japan Today

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

7 Comments
Login to comment

Very fortunate man, living his dream at 71.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

It's amazing to say the least. This man has been competing in the Olympics since the Tokyo Olympics (1964). Hope he makes it to the next one in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. (2016)

4 ( +4 / -0 )

He's good, I wish him well.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

He competed way back in 1964, took a break to work on a career, then after retirement, finally had time again to go back to competing for the Olympics.

He says this is likely his last Olympics because his horse is now too old, and it's expensive to raise a new dressage horse.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Was great to see him getting coverage and attention from the BBC over here in England. Says he has always trained and exercised hard.A true Olympian.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

I'm a big fan of tis guy. I first learned about him in a trivia book that pointed out that his name is a homonym with the word 補欠 ("backup"/"benchwarmer"), but Mr. Hoketsu is still top class even after all these years.

Amazing that it's his horse that's getting too old to compete!

2 ( +2 / -0 )

I would have absolutely loved to have seen this guy win, and in my books he's still gold. Absolute respect.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

Login to leave a comment

Facebook users

Use your Facebook account to login or register with JapanToday. By doing so, you will also receive an email inviting you to receive our news alerts.

Facebook Connect

Login with your JapanToday account

User registration

Articles, Offers & Useful Resources

A mix of what's trending on our other sites