The oldest athlete and the most successful

 As I start to grow grey behind my ears, the story that warmed my heart at the Olympics was not Superfish Michael Phelps quest for Olympic immortality, but th story of this man who 44 years after his debut at the 1964 Olympics is back again as the games' oldest athlete - Hiroshi Hoketsu. Read more on this athlete here:

But they probably wouldn't be so surprised if they knew that the oldest athlete competing at the Beijing Olympics in August is 67-year-old Hiroshi Hoketsu, a dressage rider for the Japanese equestrian team. His first Olympics was in 1964, where he placed 40th in the show jumping competition. It's been 44 years since Hoketsu's Olympic debut, and in that time he's been busy running large pharmaceutical companies, including the Japan division of Johnson & Johnson, prior to his retirement in 2002.

It was his wife, Motoko, who first introduced Hiroshi to dressage after enjoying watching the sport in Europe. A self-professed perfectionist, Hiroshi was fascinated by the detail and precision involved in the sport. He began riding every morning before donning his suit and tie and heading in to the office. After business trips abroad, the first place he went when he got home was the stables. He earned his second Olympic spot for Seoul in 1988, but was unable to compete when his horse failed the quarantine test due to a respiratory problem. Hiroshi then decided to concentrate on competitions at home, and won five national championships in a row between 1988 and 1992.

But he never gave up his Olympic dream.

Following his retirement from Johnson & Johnson, Hiroshi flew to Aachen, Germany where he took up with trainer Ton de Ridder. Under Ridder's instruction, he qualified for the 2006 FEI World Equestrian Games, only to be thwarted again when his horse Calando went lame.

Then he found Whisper, an 11-year-old chestnut mare with a wide blaze and taste for bananas. The pair has solidified a strong partnership that has impressed discerning judges, earned the Japanese equestrian team a spot in the 2008 Summer Olympics, and is finally sending Hiroshi back to the Olympics. The Pan-Asian Olympic qualifiers were scrambled by an outbreak of Equine Influenza, and instead delegations were sent to evaluate the riders for the countries affected. Hiroshi and Whisper won for Japan, securing a slot in the equestrian events for his country as well as his own Olympic berth.

As they say, the Olympics is not only about winning….

First Posted at Prem Panicker’s on August 16, 2008.