Hoketsu trots to 2nd Olympics in 44 years

Four decades later, he still weighs 62 kilograms but is aiming higher in what will be his second Games.

In the Beijing Games in August, the retired corporate chief will become the oldest Japanese to compete in the Olympics at the age of 67 years and four months.

“The 40th place was only a few positions above the bottom,” he recalled of his result of 44 years ago.

“What I want is a much higher place. Luckily, I have a talented horse. I want to go as high as possible.”

Hoketsu was speaking after the Japan Equestrian Federation announced that he was due to be selected to compete in the team dressage.

“I feel relieved. If you have a goal, you can stay young. It would be good if people of my generation feel the same,” said Hoketsu, fondly dubbed by media as the “hope of old men.”

The selection will become official when the International Equestrian Federation formally announce the qualified dressage teams on Tuesday.

At the recent regional trials, Australia scored 196.167 against 194.792 for Japan and 177.875 for New Zealand. The top two teams qualify for Beijing and Hoketsu scored the highest point among the Japanese.

The southern Chinese enclave of Hong Kong will host the equestrian events in subtropical weather, 11 Games after Hoketsu endeavored in autumnal Tokyo.

“What matters is heat, humidity and the whole climate. Too much exercise wears out horses. It is difficult to control conditions. I don’t like it hot myself,” he said.

Hoketsu was born in Tokyo in March 1941, just months before the attack on Pearl Harbor which brought the United States into World War II.

He started horse riding at age 12 and studied at Tokyo’s prestigious Keio University before he was employed by a Japanese oil company.

He then studied at Duke University in the United States and was employed by a US-affiliated pharmaceutical company while continuing practicing at an equestrian club in Yokohama south of Tokyo.

After the home Olympics, he turned to dressage, one of the more stately Olympic sports, which is often referred to as horse ballet.

He was picked as a substitute for 1984 Los Angeles Games. His horse had a quarantine problem, forcing him to withdraw from the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

After retiring from the drug firm at which he finally served as president, the Olympic flame was rekindled in Hoketsu.

He has lived in Germany since 2003 to train while his family - his wife and their only daughter - stayed home.

In late 2006, he found a chestnut mare named Whisper, now 11 years old.

Japan Olympic Committee president Tsunekazu Takeda praised Hoketsu as “the most experienced” and the fittest as “he competes on a horse he has trained himself.”

“For decades, he has trained himself by getting up at five in the morning and he is everything a rider should be,” added Takeda who also competed in Olympic equestrian events in 1972 and 1976.

Hoketsu said he spends one hour every day on muscle building and stretching.

Before Hoketsu, the oldest Japanese Olympian was Kikuko Inoue, a grandmother of five, who also competed in the dressage at the 1988 Seoul Games at age 63 years and nine months.

Swedish shooter Oscar Swahn was the oldest ever Olympic competitor. He took part in the 1920 Antwerp Games at the age of 72 years and 10 months and won a silver medal.

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