Opportunity in times of adversity: How Fouaad Mirza saw the glass half-full
Fouaad Mirza is the first Indian equestrian to qualify for the Olympics in 20 years. The 29-year-old Bengaluru lad broke a 36-year old draught, clinching silver for both individual and team equestrian events at the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games. He is only the third Indian equestrian to qualify for the Olympics after Wing Commander Indrajit Lamba and Imtiaz Anees.
During the first Coronavirus lockdown, Mirza is trained in Bergedorf, a village in Northwest Germany. The Coronavirus outbreak postponed the 2020 Tokyo Olympics to 2021. When faced with the decision of going back to Bengaluru or staying in Germany, Mirza opted to stay back and continue his training.
The postponement came as a boon for Mirza as it provided ample time for Seigneur Medicott, his preferred horse, to recover from a ligament injury. “The postponement is not an issue for equestrians, but I feel for other athletes who are at their prime and were ready for the Olympics”, said Mirza in a chat with Aditya Virwani, the COO of Embassy Group, in a Zoom meeting last June.
When asked about changes to his routine, Mirza answered, “Nothing changed for people in the equestrian industry despite the lockdown. It is difficult to train without an aim. My daily routine now is horses, every day and all day. I feed the horses at 7 in the morning and start riding at 8:30. Each of my 5 horses has a different routine, so I finish riding by 12. Having a horse is harder than having a girlfriend; it sort of prepares you”, Mirza quipped.
Before the first lockdown, Mirza was preparing to compete in an event called ‘Four Star Long’ in an international competition. The competition he had registered for, which was supposed to happen in Montelibretti from April 9-12, 2020, got cancelled due to COVID-19.
“We will have to see where it goes from here. Equestrian is an expensive sport and is reliant on big sponsors. It is upsetting to see sponsors like Rolex pull out of big events like the grand slam due to the outbreak. Although the next 2 years will be challenging, we will bounce back and come out of it. To all the youngsters and budding equestrians out there, I urge you to have self-belief as self-belief can make you do amazing things. Become a student of your craft and always learn,” advised Mirza as he signed off from the Zoom call.
So far, in the Olympics, Mirza has participated in one event: the Individual Eventing Dressage, which took place yesterday. With his beloved Seigneur Medicott (the horse has competed 34 times and has racked up 10 wins!), Mirza finished with 28 penalty points and was ranked a joint-ninth eventually. The duo were faultless and elegant, a perfect example of man and horse working together in harmony. They covered a distance of 4420 metres in 7 minutes and 45 seconds, clearing a total of 23 obstacles. The pair finished only 6.9 points behind the leader Michael Jung, who is a double Olympic champion.
Mirza and Seigneur Medicott will be in action very early tomorrow morning at 5:18 AM. They will be competing in the Cross-country event. You might want to catch them in action.
