chinese equestrian star hua tian set to make fourth olympic appearance-518棋牌

chinese equestrian star alex hua tian competes during the 19th asian games in tonglu, near hangzhou, china, october 2, 2023. /cfp

chinese equestrian star alex hua tian is a london-born rider who is set to make his fourth olympic appearance in paris, and aiming to build on his previous outings from beijing, rio, and tokyo.

the 34-year-old, who has a chinese father and british mother, first ventured into equestrian sports by mounting a horse at the young age of five.

that experience sparked a deep passion for the sport, and at beijing 2008, he made history as china's first olympic eventing competitor. his eighth-place finish at rio 2016 remains the country's best performance in the discipline.

he continued to excel by clinching gold medals in the individual and team events at last year's hangzhou asian games.

for paris 2024, hua tian has selected his trusted partner chocs, with whom he shares a bond of seven years, as his top choice among three qualified horses.

he says he's eager to grace the renowned venue at the palace of versailles in the heart of the french capital, and feels right at home as he prepares to step onto the olympic stage once again.

"i think the venue will be iconic for being surrounded by all of the history of versailles. and i think the audience will be very, very educated, and very passionate about equestrian," he said.

"so that's something i'm really looking forward to too. it's my fourth olympics, and i started to feel that i'd like to be quite competitive. but then you have to manage your own expectations. you're dealing with horses, so you can't have everything your own way most of the time," he added.