Chen finally realizes Oly dream
Rising star Kawai looks to jump in Tokyo in 2020
RIYADH, Dec 21: For art expert and equestrian Jasmine Chen, persistence is key. After trying and narrowly failing to qualify for the Olympics three times, it seems that fourth time is a charm for the Taiwanese star as she is all but qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, leading her group in points by a far margin.
“The Olympics have always been my dream, it’s the dream for any athlete, I’ve tried to qualify three times already and I was always very, very close,” Chen said.
Chen’s beginnings in the sport start from her childhood, where she started riding horses at 8 years old and began to train a few years after. “At age 12 I started going to Germany to train every summer during school holidays and that’s when I started competing.” At just 17 years old, Chen participated in the Asian Games and won a silver medal for her stellar performances.
30-year-old Chen took a year-long sabbatical from her work at the esteemed art auction house Sotheby’s
EQUESTRIAN
to solely focus on achieving her Olympics ambition, dedicating all her time to train in the quest to take her horses to Tokyo. “The past year I’ve been training full time non-stop to give myself a good shot at qualifying.” That decision seems to have paid off, as she is within touching distance of being an Olympic athlete.
Speaking from Saudi Arabia, where she is competing in the FEI-sanctioned Diriyah Equestrian Festival, Chen attributes a large part of her success to parental support. “My father has been very supportive, and he never stops pushing me to achieve more,” reflected Chen. Now that she is on the brink of qualifying for the 2020 Tokyo games, her father’s support proved to be an unshakable element of attaining the Olympics dream.
Chen’s participation in the Diriyah Equestrian Festival sees her take part in a historic first for Saudi Arabian equestrians, as the competition is not only the first FEI-sanctioned event where points gained count for Olympics and FEI World Cup qualification, but it is the first time female
Saudi equestrians compete with their male counterparts.
“I love competing here, my horses really enjoy it and the way the arena is set up and the facilities have been very impressive,” said Chen about her time in Saudi.
Speaking on Saudi equestrians, she praised their high level of competition in the equestrian world. “These riders I already know them from Dubai and from Europe, they are the best in the Middle East and they compete along with the best year-round, so the level is really high.” The Diriyah Equestrian Festival has returned for its second and final weekend as equestrians gear up to compete for what is a crucial stage in determining the qualification fate of several equestrians looking to take their horses and skills to Tokyo in 2020.
Most jockeys start riding horses at a single digit age, but for Mike Kawai, that is not the case. The Osaka raised star started riding at 15 years of age, which is normally considered ‘too old’ to reach a competitive level – let alone at international stages. With his eyes set on a 2020 Olympics in his home country, Mike’s journey took him from Japan to The Netherlands, and now he is hoping to make a return to compete in the summer games in Tokyo. “I started to ride when I was 15 because my father pushed me to do so,” Kawai said. “I used to ride when I was little, but I did not like it, so I stopped,” he added.
But after turning 15, he grew a liking to horses and what he could do with them, and so he rode and trained every single day for three years and started taking part in junior jumping competitions across Japan. Then he started winning.
“I took part in national junior jumping competitions in Japan, and I managed to win in a first-class competition”. Mike said this changed everything for him. Seeing that he can compete and win, Mike’s father instilled in him the belief that can not only become a world-class equestrian, but an Olympic athlete. He urged his son to start preparing for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. “My father said to me ‘you should go to the Tokyo Olympics’, when I was 17. I was jumping the 1.20m at the time, so it seemed impossible to me to be able to make it to the Olympics,” Kawai reflected.
At age 18, with his father’s blessings, Kawai quit high school and moved from Osaka to The Netherlands to train in some of the finest stables in the world. “My father said go to the best stable in the world so you can prepare for the Olympics, so I quit school decided to move to Europe.” Kawai’s risky decision paid off. He won his first international classes in 2018 in Opglabbeek in Belgium and won his first ranking class in 2018 during Global Champions Prague Playoffs.
Now in Saudi Arabia for the FEIsanctioned Diriyah Equestrian Festival and with points counting towards qualifying for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Kawai achieved his best-ever career result in the 1.60m World Cup competition, producing a double clear round in 38.73 seconds. “It was the best result of my career, so it is important that I’m competing here,” Kawai said about his time in Saudi.
“It is only one time in your life that you will have the opportunity to compete in the Olympics in your home country. I trust my horses and I trust myself.” The Festival is part of the wider Diriyah Season, an epic month of iconic sports events such as Formula E, top-class men’s tennis and a World Heavyweight Title fight – The Clash On The Dunes. Known as the home of kings and heroes, the stunning UNESCO World Heritage site Diriyah has seen stage performances from some of the biggest music artistes on the planet, including Swedish House Mafia, Calvin Harris, Usher, Imagine Dragons and more.