Alex Hua Tian competes in the eventing jumping team and individual final at the Hangzhou Asian Games, Oct. 2, 2023. (Xinhua/Wei Peiquan)
China's top eventer talks to Xinhua about winning double golds at the Hangzhou Asian Games, competing on home soil for the second time, and the emerging generation of Chinese riders.
by sportswriters Zhang Han and Gao Meng
HANGZHOU, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) -- China's Olympic eventer Alex Hua Tian said he felt relieved and excited after triumphing on his outing at the Hangzhou Asian Games, not only for having won two gold medals, but also for seeing an "exciting" future of equestrianism in the country.
"Honestly, it's just an enormous relief for myself, also for our federation - they have put so much effort into the management of the team and into this Asian Games," said the 33-year-old, who secured both individual and team eventing golds in Tonglu on Monday.
"I don't put pressure on myself normally, and I think everybody has been very fair in their expectations as well. But coming into these championships as a team and individually, I would say that we have come into this as the favorites, and we've also been as a team very quietly confident."
Hua Tian poses with his silver medal after the eventing individual at the Incheon Asian Games, Sept. 26, 2014. (Xinhua/Zhang Fan)
The golds complete Hua Tian's individual set of Asiad medals, after having won a silver in 2014 and bronze in 2018.
Born to a Chinese father and a British mother, Hua Tian made history at the age of 18 in 2008, when he became China's first equestrian Olympic athlete and the youngest Olympian eventer worldwide. The Hangzhou Asian Games, however, marked only the second time for him to compete on home soil, 15 years after his Olympic debut at Beijing 2008.
"Of course, the home Asian Games, and of course my teammates, Bao Yingfeng, Sun Huadong, Liang Ruiji - we've already competed together in a championship before, in Tokyo, and so to compete together here on home territory and deliver the kind of results that we've delivered is very exciting.
"Not just right now with what we've got as a team, but also for the future. Really exciting!" Hua Tian said, adding that the new generation emerging at the Hangzhou Asiad is the other thing he's excited about.
Hua Tian greets the audience after the eventing individual at the Jakarta Asian Games, Aug. 26, 2018. (Xinhua/Huang Zongzhi)
"I think it's at a perfect time. I think right now feels like a real change in dynamics year for Ma Shu [equestrian in Chinese] here in China, because we have a really exciting emerging young generation coming up behind us," he said.
Hua Tian mentioned several young riders representing China at the Asiad, with one of them being his pupil Rao Jiayi - known as Sarah at the eventer's stable in London - who formed part of China's silver medal-winning dressage team.
"That's also really exciting, because [we] have four riders all under the age of 25, really young. Maybe they don't have the experience and maybe the horsepower of Qatar, the UAE, Saudi Arabia. I think it's going to be their generation that really brings Chinese equestrian to the forefront."
Drawing on his personal impression of the Asian Games, the best-known Chinese rider gave high praise to the Tonglu equestrian competition zone.
"It's all been wonderful," he said. "But I have to say, the job that the guys did in Tonglu, with the venue for the equestrian, the organization, the facilities, the design, and the local people, it's not just been good, it's been pretty magical.
Bao Yingfeng, Liang Ruij, Sun Huadong and Hua Tian (L to R) clinched China's first ever Asian Games eventing team gold at the Hangzhou Asiad, Oct. 2, 2023. (Xinhua/Wei Peiquan)
"I have to say I am thoroughly impressed, because hosting an Asian Games or an Olympic Games is a hugely complex endeavor, but in particular the equestrian part brings a level of complexity that goes above and beyond."
Hua Tian was at pains to illustrate how important this Asian Games is to him, saying that "it's not just a home championship. It's not just the excitement of delivering results in front of a home audience. It's also demonstrating to everyone that Chinese equestrian is really getting there."
"It's hitting a really exciting moment of maturity and composure as demonstrated by my teammates this week that I don't think we were able to deliver any time earlier," he stated.
"I really hope that it's something that, as a sport, we continue to invest in and support our current riders and our future young riders to get the international exposure that me and my teammates have been allowed to get." ■
