Optimistic about the development prospects of Shanghai equestrian, "Chinese equestrian No. 1" Hua Tian: Continue to strive for individual qualifications for the Paris Olympics

A unique sports meeting for young riders and a joyful equestrian cultural journey. On December 3, the "Huatian·Horses and Horses as One" Little Riders General Mobilization Games was held at Xujiahui Sports Park. More than 30 families participated in the event, including contestants from the "Stable Management Challenge Competition" and young people who loved equestrian sports recruited online. Hua Tian, ​​the “No. 1 equestrian in China”, returned to Shanghai from Europe to experience the charm of equestrian sports with his children.

Most of the time, Huatian is training and competing in Europe, continuing to strive for individual Olympic qualifications for the equestrian event in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. In fact, promoting equestrian sports in China is Huatian's bigger dream, and he focuses on China. Shanghai, the birthplace of equestrian sports, launches the "Huatian People and Horses as One" public welfare project. During the break, Hua Tian accepted an interview with Liberation Daily and Shangguan News.

Equestrian sports are more than just riding. Xiao Long Bao is my favorite in Shanghai.

Interview background: In 1850, China’s first standard racecourse was built in Shanghai. In 2014, the Global Equestrian Championship settled in Shanghai. The city of Shanghai has witnessed the origin and development of modern equestrian sports in China. In recent years, Shanghai has always been at the forefront of the country's exploration of social forces in equestrian sports, and young people have become more and more involved.

In the past two years, Huatian has also chosen to join the Shanghai Equestrian Team, using the influence of a public figure to share his understanding of equestrian sports and explain the "chivalry spirit" in his mind.

The preliminaries of the Little Riders General Mobilization Games include three competitions: wearing horse clothes, magic knots, and installing hay bags, which test the young riders' stable management proficiency.

Hua Tian: In the first year, we focused on the equestrian carnival, which was generally fun and allowed young riders to fall in love with this sport first. In the second year, we added more responsibility, which is specifically reflected in the responsibility of stable management. We hope that children will remember that equestrian sports are not just about riding, but also about the care of horses and the management of stables. An important part of the sport.

Wearing horse clothes, magic knots, and filling hay bags test the stable management proficiency of the participating young riders, and also compete on the tacit understanding of participating families. Equestrian sports are not only a competition of riding skills, but also a test of the tacit cooperation between the knight and the horse. Stable management is the best way to cultivate this tacit cooperation. This public welfare project focuses on the challenges of stable management, hoping to let more young people understand the world behind horses.

On October 2, Chinese team player Hua Tian greeted the audience at the award ceremony. On the same day, the equestrian event team competition of the Hangzhou Asian Games held at the Tonglu Equestrian Center ended. The Chinese team won the championship, and the Japanese team and the Thai team won the runner-up and third place respectively.

Hua Tian: In Shanghai, I have many friends and partners. I am a part of this city. Currently, apart from training and competing in Europe, Shanghai is where I spend most of my time. Here, I have many caring friends and die-hard supporters, all of which are very important to me.

This is a great city and I want to spend more time here enjoying life. I am actually a foodie. When I go to restaurants in Shanghai, I often say: "Bring me a small dumpling!" Of course, my father is from Beijing, so I have loved eating dumplings since I was a child, but in Shanghai, I I feel that the xiaolongbao tastes as good as the dumplings.

Losing team Olympic qualification, fighting for individual Olympic qualification again

Background of the interview: On the evening of October 10th, Beijing time, the International Equestrian Federation announced that the Chinese team’s eventing team Olympics was canceled because Huatian’s horse partner, the 13-year-old gelding Chicko, tested positive for the controlled drug allogest during the competition. qualifications. The Japanese team rose to second place with 125.7 penalty points and qualified for the Paris Olympic equestrian event team event.

According to the test report provided by the International Equestrian Federation, Chicko's blood concentration of allogest was extremely low, equivalent to only one percent of the therapeutic dose. Later investigations confirmed that it may be caused by pollution in the stable. The Chinese Equestrian Association said on the 11th that it was "deeply shocked" but fully accepted, and promised to "continue to maintain the cleanliness and purity of equestrian sports."

In addition to being "very shocked" that the horses tested positive for controlled drugs, Hua Tian also felt "deeply guilty" about the Chinese team's disqualification from the team Olympics. He said that horse health welfare and anti-doping have always been his most important responsibilities. . He said in the statement: "I have always strictly adhered to the anti-doping red line for myself and my horses, and have never had a positive doping test. However, this incident has warned me that I still need to improve my management level and strengthen professional learning."

On October 2, champion Chinese player Hua Tian was at the award ceremony. On the same day, Chinese player Hua Tian won the championship in the final of the equestrian event-jumping individual event of the Hangzhou Asian Games held at the Tonglu Equestrian Center.

Hua Tian: The cross-contamination incident in the stables this summer had a huge psychological impact on me and the entire team. Even now, when I recall hearing the news, the shock is still vivid in my mind. After all, through our own efforts, we have achieved the very precious Olympic qualification for the eventing team, and everyone has given their all.

In the end, through investigation and scientific proof, this was an incident of cross-contamination in the stable, but I also know that the impact this has on the entire team and all participants in Chinese equestrian will be huge. Anyone who knows me knows that I have always been very strict with stable management and have always followed the relevant rules of the International Equestrian Federation. However, this accident also reminded me that I still need to continue learning and making progress.

At present, my goal is still to qualify for the individual Olympics in triathlon, so I have put this accident aside and devoted myself to the fierce competition. When I won the Asian Games, there was a photo of me looking up to the sky and screaming. What I felt in my heart at that time was not that I had finally won the gold medal, but that the goddess of luck had come back to favor me. Currently, I have a short vacation with the horses, and then I will immediately return to Europe to continue training and prepare for a series of competitions next year.

Optimistic about China’s development prospects, equestrian is not considered an aristocratic sport

Interview background: In order to speed up the development of sports culture communication in Shanghai, the Shanghai Sports Development Foundation Sports Culture Special Fund was officially established in November 2021. The "Huatian People and Horses as One" public welfare project is the first funded project of the Sports Culture Fund. In 2023, with the strong support of the Shanghai Municipal Sports Bureau, Shanghai Charity Foundation and Shanghai Sports Development Foundation Sports Culture Special Fund, the "Huatian is Coming" series of videos that are loved by teenagers will make a strong return and actively promote equestrian. Sports and vigorously popularize equestrian culture.

Hua Tian's sharing planted the seeds of love in the hearts of the little knights, and also passed on precious spiritual wealth.

Hua Tian: In 2019, the number of equestrian clubs in China was just over 2,000. By 2021, this number has exceeded 3,000. This shows the popularity and development of equestrian sports in China, especially among Chinese youth groups. Youth are an important part of the development of equestrian sports in China. I very much believe in the development prospects of this sport in China. I also very much look forward to China becoming a global participant in equestrian sports in the future, not just at the level of high-level events.

What I also want to say is that equestrian sports is actually a very complex sport. The complexity of this sport is not just about riding a horse well, but also that you have to face another animal with emotions and intelligence. You It’s not just competitive sports themselves that need to be concerned. The best way to understand equestrian sports is actually to put a child in front of a horse and let him be in contact with horses from an early age. Only then can you know what equestrian sports is and what this sport can bring to us.

Spending time with large animals like horses and learning how to form a partnership with them has a huge impact on a child’s understanding and building of respect, responsibility, compassion, chivalry, etc… academic pressure, social pressure, all of those things play a role holding the children. But when they stand in front of horses, life and values ​​become much simpler. You learn best in the presence of a horse.

Starting in 2022, Huatian will implement equestrian education public welfare projects in Shanghai to promote equestrian culture.

Hua Tian: I want to say, many, many. The focus of my promotion is on learning courses, competition knowledge, etc. Behind this is my passion. What I love is not just horses, but the sport of equestrian. I feel like a devout believer. This is an experience about sports, Chinese society and Chinese culture, and there should be more close connections.

I think that modern China is gradually losing its connection with ancient horse culture, but it is coming back through equestrian sports. When I see so many Chinese children running in the stables and participating in this sport, I see it on their faces. of joy and happiness. Because, I feel that I have brought new equestrian sports values ​​to the new generation of Chinese children.

The "Huatian·Horse as One" public welfare project will be committed to allowing more equestrian sports enthusiasts to participate in mass communication.

In addition, due to cultural differences, equestrian sports have a tradition of royal participation in the UK. It seems that only very wealthy people can participate, so in China it is labeled as an aristocratic sport. In fact, if you go to more countries, you will find that equestrian sports are not that expensive - if you go all over the world to participate in world competitions, it is really expensive, and if you just participate in youth equestrian learning courses, the fees may Cheaper than some British football club youth training courses.