Korean equestrian rider Hwang Young-sik (Korea Equestrian Federation) says the most difficult moment in his preparation for the 2024 Paris Olympics was “parting ways with my partner.
His horse Blueberry Dream, with whom he was preparing to perform dressage, suddenly became ill about a year ago. She underwent two surgeries, but eventually passed away.
After trying to save Blueberry Dream’s life, Hwang Young-sik was given the task of finding a new partner horse before he had a chance to mend his broken heart.
He had to start from scratch with a new horse just over a year before his lifelong goal of qualifying for the Olympics. That’s when Hwang found Del Monte.
Hwang and Delmonte competed in the dressage qualifier for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris on Sept. 30 (KST) in a special arena in the Etoile square of the Palace of Versailles near Paris.
With a score of 70.000%, Hwang failed to qualify for the final. The first and second place finishers from each of the six groups, plus the six runners-up, were invited to compete in the final freestyle, but Hwang, who finished fifth in Group C, did not make the cut.
Still, Hwang’s face was bright as he and Delmonte walked around the arena. After his performance, he patted Delmonte on the neck and encouraged him, then left the arena with a smile on his face.
Despite being turned away from qualifying, Hwang has a reason to smile.
After winning back-to-back Asian Games titles at Guangzhou 2010 and Incheon 2014, Hwang has been considered the face of dressage in South Korea for more than a decade. Since then, he has traveled to Germany to compete against athletes from the sport’s “home” of Europe.
“I can say that I really enjoyed riding my horse while preparing for this Olympics,” Hwang told Yonhap News Agency after the qualifier. I used everything I’ve learned so far and had no regrets,” he said.
Hwang’s score of 70.000 percent is not uncommon for European riders, but it is rare for Korean riders.
“Before Paris, I had more time to adjust to Delmonte and myself, so it was meaningful to get a 70.000% on the Olympic stage,” says Hwang, adding, ”We did a good job considering the time we had to adjust.”
He is grateful to Delmonte for getting him to the level he wanted in about a year.
For Hwang, who is competing at the Olympics for the first time in his life, preparing for the Games has broadened his perspective on his relationship with horses.
Prior to the dressage competition, controversy erupted over the abuse of horses by British equestrian Charlotte Dujardin, who was a strong favorite to win three gold medals at the Olympics.
Dujardin withdrew from the Paris Games in 2020 after it was revealed that she abused a horse with a whip while teaching a student athlete to ride because the horse would not lift its legs high enough.
“When I watched the video, I had many thoughts. I used to fight with horses a lot in the past. The Olympics made me think more about how to treat horses and how to take care of them,” he said.
In recent years, the international equestrian community has been faced with a growing debate on animal rights and strong public opinion in favor of animal protection.
“In Korea, we think of horseback riding as a sport, but after living here for a long time, I think it’s more of an art,” says Hwang, who knows this from living in Europe. ”It’s not just about riding hard and exercising hard. You have to know how to make the horse happy,” he said.
Hwang was happy to complete his first Olympic challenge, and he was especially grateful to KCC Glass Chairman Jung Mong-ik.
“I haven’t talked to the media about it until now, but KCC Glass Chairman Jung has been helping me since the Incheon Asian Games, and thanks to him, I was able to make it to the Paris Olympics,” Hwang said. ”He believed in me like a father and supported me on the path I wanted to take.”
“The equestrian world in Korea has been stagnant lately, and there is still a lot of unfavorable prejudice, but there are many people who really love the sport. I hope you can look at it positively,” he added. 안전한 파워볼사이트
