SOURCE:http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/aug/02/london-2012-oldest-hiroshi-hoketsu?newsfeed=true
London 2012's oldest competitor, Hiroshi Hoketsu, takes the reins
The Olympic veteran, 71, on his horse Whisper, tackles the dressage – almost half a century after his first Games
Hiroshi Hoketsu on Whisper; he says his biggest motivation is to feel he's improving. Photograph: Markus Schreiber/AP
The crowd did not go wild for Hiroshi Hoketsu of Japan as he rode Whisper out on to the sand of the Greenwich Park equestrian arena at one o'clock on Thursday afternoon. It wasn't a question of bad manners; more a question of consideration.
A stadium-sized roar to acknowledge the arrival of the Games' oldest competitor – a ramrod-straight and dapper man of 71 – would have frightened the mare and probably embarrassed her rider.
Hoketsu, after all, had not travelled from his home in Germany to fly the flag for older athletes, nor had he come to court the sympathy vote.
He had come to London, as he went to his first games in Tokyo in 1964, and to Beijing four years ago, to compete and, hopefully, to win.
And beneath a bright sky that turned Whisper's brown coat a dark gold, that is what he tried his best to do.
With a formal nod, Hoketsu began his individual dressage test, guiding his 15-year-old horse around the arena for the benefit of the judges, who sat scrutinising their every move from seven shady huts.
His white-gloved hands keeping her on a tight rein, Whisper executed a neat diagonal cross of the arena before pausing and reversing neatly to one corner. Seven minutes later, after she had appeared to jog on the spot, skip and goose-step her way around the arena, Whisper came to a stop in front of the judges. As the first drops of rain began to fall from a greying sky, the crowd burst into applause and Hoketsu raised his hat in acknowledgement.
And with that, the oldest Olympian rode out of the arena, to finish 17th out of 24.
At the top of Thursday's dressage table, in first and second, were two British riders: Carl Hester and Laura Bechtolsheimer. Several places behind was Rafalca, the US horse part-owned by Ann Romney, the wife of the Republican party's presidential candidate, Mitt Romney.
If Hoketsu was disappointed by his performance, he gave no sign of it. At one point, not too long ago, it looked as if he would not be coming to London at all.
Whisper, who is getting on a bit, had been poorly with bad legs and tendinitis until a new vet helped get her back to form. It is not known, however, whether he also managed to cure her of her phobia of big screens: after finishing 35th in the individual dressage in Beijing, Hoketsu pointed the finger at technology. "My horse just hates to see that moving screen," he said.
Whisper seemed to have no such problems on Thursday afternoon and her rider blamed any failings on himself.
"I made two or three mistakes, which I shouldn't have, so I'm not totally happy, but it wasn't terribly bad," he said after the event. And the crowd, he added, had been "very good".
Asked what motivated him to carry on competing six decades after he first climbed on to a horse, Hoketsu laughed.
"Probably the biggest motivation for me [is to] feel I'm improving," he said. "I think if I feel, 'OK, I'm getting worse than before,' I will stop."
He had, he said, noticed a cultural shift in the Games since he came 40th in the showjumping in his native Tokyo in 1964.
"The Olympic Games itself has changed a little bit," he said. "At that time, participation was of more importance to everybody. But now I think medals are much more important, not only for athletes but also even for politics."
His life, too, he said, had also changed rather a lot. Had he given as many interviews at the Games 49 years ago? He smiled again.
"No, no, no, no. Fortunately not."
Faced with the inevitable question of whether this would be his last games, or whether he intended to return at Rio aged 75, he paused for an instant.
"No. I want to but I don't think I can because it's very difficult to find a horse to bring me to Brazil," he said. "My present horse is too old for that." Present. A small but significant word.
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