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Positive signs for Japan’s eventers after first Olympic medal in Paris

Pippa Roome Pippa Roome

    • There are positive signs that Japan’s eventers will be able to build on their team bronze at the Paris Olympics.

    Two of the medallists, Ryuzo Kitajima and Toshiyuki Tanaka, are funded by Riding Club Crane and based with Angela Tucker in Gloucestershire. They will continue to train with Angela and aim to qualify for the Los Angeles Olympics at the 2026 World Championships.

    “We will also send new riders to the UK to train,” said a spokesperson for the club.

    Angela told H&H she hopes the club will send her a third rider in April, adding: “We’re trying to use the fact we won a medal and widen the base. The riders who went to Paris are world-class, but to move forward to Aachen and Los Angeles, we need other riders involved, too.”

    Kazuma Tomoto – the best-placed Japanese eventer in Paris (fifth) and Tokyo (fourth) while based with William Fox-Pitt in Dorset – works for the Japan Racing Association (JRA), which recalled him to Japan in September, to chiefly teach, and retrain former racehorses.

    A JRA spokesperson said Kazuma’s base “will be Japan for the time being” and that “it is under consideration” whether the JRA will send another rider to Britain to replace him.

    Independent rider Yoshiaki Oiwa, who based himself with Pippa Funnell for his Paris campaign having bought her five-star horse MGH Grafton Street, confirmed he will be working towards the Asian Games and World Championships in 2026 and the Los Angeles Olympics.

    A spokesperson for the Japan Equestrian Federation (JEF) said: “We will continue cooperating with the eventing committee of JEF, the Japanese Olympic Committee and the JRA and will make new plans to build up the athletes and horses both in Japan and abroad.

    “We have a couple of talented riders in Japan, so we’ve started to make a build-up plan to grow up our next generation toward LA 2028.”

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    Pippa Roome
    Pippa Roome

    H&H magazine editor and eventing editor
    Pippa is a true eventing geek and has been H&H’s eventing editor since 2005. She has first-hand experience of competing up to British Eventing intermediate and international CCI2*-L level, and has worked in the industry on a top event yard. Pippa enjoys nothing more than immersing herself in the sport at the highest level, reporting from the five-stars and international championships, including the Olympics.
    Pippa Roome

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