Dreaming of playing the Olympics in the country without the help of the government and the sports association sounds impossible, but Fouaad Mirza, who won two medals at the Asian Games 2018, has refuted such claims. Fouaad Mirza has created history as he became the first Indian in 20 to qualify for Olympics. Interestingly, neither the Equestrian Federation of India (EFI) has made any contribution to his achievement nor Fouaad is a part of the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) under the Ministry of Sports. Despite this, he has no complaints.
The Horseman is in Germany and is working hard to bring laurels for the country at the Tokyo Olympics. Fouaad is the country’s first civilian Equestrian player to qualify for an Olympics. For his achievement Fouaad gives full credit to his sponsor Jitu Virmani.
Fouaad, who received the Arjuna Award last year, says that 65 big horsemen of the world will present the challenge at the Olympics. It will not be easy to make inroads among them, but he is just thinking about doing well. He wants to demonstrate in Tokyo that the game can be recognized among civilians outside the military.
After winning a silver medal at the Jakarta Asian Games, Fouaad suffered a setback when his favorite horse, Medicot, was injured. He achieved the Olympic quota with the help of two other horses, Fernhill and Touchingwood.
According to his father Hassan Mirza, Fouaad needs a horse like Medicott to perform well in the Olympics. Medicott is recovering now, but Virmani has recently brought Fouaad to another German horse, Diara. It costs Rs 2.5 crore.
Dayara and Medicott have to win the Minimum Eligibility Requirement (MER) by playing in two four-star competitions to make it to the Olympics. The main challenge Fouaad faces is that is to get them the MER apart from the fitness of his horses. After playing these competitions, it will be decided in July which horse he will use in the Olympics.
According to Hassanain, application will now be made to include Fouaad in TOPS. Any help for the Olympics will be beneficial for him.
