Damascus-SANA
Syrian equestrian has a long story with achievements that began years ago and is still continuing with the presence of strong riders who raised the Syrian flag in many international forums, including the arrival of the jockey Ahmed Hamsho to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Regarding Syria’s participation in the Tokyo Olympics through jockey Ahmed Hamsho and his exit from the competition, the honorary president of the Equestrian Federation, the equestrian Mrs. Manal al-Assad, said in a statement to SANA’s sports delegate: “The jockey Ahmed Hamsho is one of the distinguished jockeys, and he participated in the Olympics on a loaned mare that is not at the level of the Olympics after his horse was injured. The rider usually requires a period of time to train on the new horse and acclimatise, and this period was short, as this mare was limited to jumping to a height of only 145 cm.”
The jockey Hamsho had booked the first ticket for Syria in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics by topping the general ranking of the countries of Group G within the International Federation of the Game, which includes the Arab countries and South Africa with 871 points with his German horse Quints. Hamsho was eliminated from the Olympic qualifiers in Tokyo after his horse stumbled in the course of the match.
Mrs. Manal Al-Assad indicated that equestrian is one of the most difficult sports, as the jockey has been training for four years to enter this important sporting event to compete with one minute on the field, and there is no other attempt to compensate unlike other sports, noting the level of Syrian jockeys who were and still are the focus of attention of many foreign coaches.
And the Honorary President of the Equestrian Federation continued: Although our horses may not match the horses in other countries, whose prices are often high, we, with the determination of our riders and their high skill levels, were able to prepare our horses with the lowest cost compared to those countries and to bring them to good levels that qualified them to jump high-altitude barriers. .
Knight Ahmed Hamsho participated in a number of international tournaments inside and outside Syria, European and Arab qualified, including six international tournaments held in Syria and called the Peace League, which was held under the supervision of the International Federation of the game.
Muhammad Al-Rahil - Muhammad Al-Khater