4 min readFeb 21, 2024 07:27 PM IST
First published on: Feb 20, 2024 at 01:46 AM IST
Anush Agarwalla — who had claimed a historic individual bronze medal for India at the 2023 Asian Games besides also playing a part in the team gold — has earned India a quota in dressage discipline for the Paris Olympics later this year, Equestrian Federation of India (EFI) announced on Monday.
This is the first time an Indian rider will compete in the dressage event at an Olympics, with the seven Indian equestrian riders to have competed previously at an Olympics riding in the eventing discipline.
How Anush Agarwalla won the equestrian quota
Agarwalla was allotted the quota on the basis of his performance in four FEI events — Wroclaw, Poland (73.485%) Kronenberg, Netherlands (74.4%), Frankfurt, Germany (72.9%), and Mechelen, Belgium (74.2%).
“I am very proud and grateful to have been successful for securing a berth for India at the Paris Olympic Games. Competing in the Olympics has always been a childhood dream for me and I’m proud to be part of this historical moment for the nation,” said 24-year-old Agarwalla.
What happens now for the equestrian quota?
It must be noted that while Agarwalla claimed the quota for India, he is not assured of competing at Paris Olympics as the quota belongs to the country. The National Federation, in its statement, said that it will conduct a final trial before sending the final name to the organisers of the Paris Olympics.
The young rider said he hoped he will be able to retain the equestrian quota.
“I will continue doing what I have always been doing: staying focused, being disciplined, working hard, setting goals and achieving them. I am confident that I will be selected to represent India at this prestigious stage,” Agarwalla said.
Who is Anush Agarwalla?
Hailing from Kolkata, Anush Agarwalla started to ride horses at Tollygunge, just like his father, uncle and cousins.
Agarwalla would travel to Delhi every school weekend from ages 11 to 16 to get better at eventing. “Thankfully, my family understood my dream,” he had told The Indian Express last year after helping India win a gold in team dressage at the Asian Games.
Initially, when he moved to Europe to become a professional rider, no one in Europe wanted to train him.
He dremt of making the cut for the Asiad team in 2018, but missed out. When he couldn’t qualify, Anush said he plunged into depression. “Accepting defeat is difficult for me. I was depressed for months and couldn’t sleep at night,” he recalled in an interview with The Indian Express. After he made the transition to Grand Prix level in Europe, and couldn’t make the Tokyo Olympics grade till December 31, 2019, things got worse.
Have Indian equestrian riders competed at Olympics before?
Fouaad Mirza was India’s lone representative in equestrian riding at the deferred Tokyo Olympics. Before Mirza, Imtiaaz Anees (Sydney 2000), Indrajit Lamba (Atlanta 1996), Jitendrajit Singh Ahluwalia, Hussain Singh, Mohammed Khan and Darya Singh (all Moscow 1980) competed for India at the Summer Games.
What is the dressage event?
The rider-horse combo performs in an arena of 20m x 60m, bordered by a low rail which the horse must stay within.
The equestrian arena has 12 lettered markers placed symmetrically indicating where the movements are to start and where the changes to pace are to occur and where the movements will end.·
There are seven stages — preliminary, elementary, medium, advanced medium, advanced, Prix St George and Intermediate -I.·
The scoring is done on scale of 1 to 10 where 1 indicates very bad and 10 excellent.
Anush Agarwalla had won a historic individual bronze medal at the 2023 Asian Games. (PHOTO: FEI) 
Share
