Chapter 2391 - 605: Your Horse Is Gone

Chapter 2391: Chapter 605: Your Horse Is Gone

"No."

William said honestly: "Your physique puts some pressure on the horse, so I’m not sure if you can win the championship."

"I’m not sure either, but I’ll do my best."

Huang Kaiwen said.

"Then good luck, my grandmother will also be at Greenwich to watch the competition live."

William said.

After exchanging a few more words, Huang Kaiwen, the young lady, and Lily finally left.

One day later.

Huang Kaiwen finally reached the finals of the equestrian obstacle competition.

The competition is divided into two groups, and the top three competitors with the highest total scores can win medals.

Equestrian sports are very popular in the United Kingdom, and tickets for this event are among the most popular with local audiences.

"Hehe, good evening everyone, we are about to bring you the broadcast of the 2012 Olympic equestrian obstacle finals in London, let’s have Cai introduce the details to everyone."

Cai Meng and Xu Xiaomei are a married couple.

They have commentated on many sports, including table tennis, badminton, boxing, and equestrian.

Cai Meng smiled and said: "The biggest attraction today is definitely our country’s competitor Huang Kaiwen. Huang Kaiwen’s athletic talent is undeniable, but some mainstream European media are not optimistic about him, mainly due to his physique. Equestrian competitors generally have a height around 1.7 meters. Huang Kaiwen is 1.88 meters tall, and aiming for a top-three position is indeed not easy."

Xu Xiaomei nodded and said: "Yes, Huang Kaiwen’s weight and height are not advantageous in equestrian competitions. The top contenders this time are some German competitors. Four years ago, they won the team silver medal in Yanjing, and their strength is very strong indeed, for instance, Marcus Enning, a two-time world champion."

"Indeed, equestrian is mainly about the horse. We don’t have disputes regarding Huang Kaiwen, but he changed his horse before the competition, which is a concern for us. Now Huang Kaiwen’s competition horse is the 8-year-old Hanoverian horse Sang Biao, hehe, this name is similar to characters in some movies. This horse was previously used by the German mounted police, who are also quite tall, Huang Kaiwen might have considered this aspect."

"Correct, now we see the course, which has a total of 15 obstacles, and competitors must make their horses jump these obstacles in the prescribed order. The obstacle heights range from 1.2 meters to 1.65 meters. We see these obstacles are very British in style, designed like a double-decker bus, the Thames River Tower, or the image of two knights holding knight spears."

"Yes, the competition is simple in terms of victory and defeat. Each time a rail is knocked down, it’s a 4-point penalty, a horse refusing to jump or not obeying results in a 3-point penalty, first time falling off incurs an 8-point penalty, exceeding time results in a 1-point deduction for every 4 seconds, anything less than 4 seconds is rounded to 4 seconds. The second fall, three refusals to jump by the horse, and surpassing the time limit will directly disqualify the competitor."

This means competitors must plan their best route, and control over the horse must be precise, as hesitation by the rider might cause the horse to refuse to jump."

The three commentators gave an introduction.

Greenwich racecourse is divided into two sections.

One section is the preparation area.

It’s equipped with simple obstacles for horses and competitors ready to compete to warm up.

The other section is the larger area, surrounded by stands, which is the competition venue.

Huang Kaiwen’s order of competition is in the middle, so there’s no rush at all.

He didn’t even need to get up to warm up.

But at this time, he was busier than those preparing for the competition.

Dutch, Italians, Brazilians, even Argentinians were surrounding Huang Kaiwen.

One might mistake it for a star autograph session.

Dutch competitor Jaco Schroeder said: "I watched your preliminary, Kevin, that horse is really good."

"Of course, it got me to Allianz."

Huang Kaiwen said with a smile.

Mikan from Mexico said: "I previously thought you could only win the archery championship, never expected Bolt couldn’t beat you."

"Idiot, what’s Bolt."

Jaco Schroeder said: "He’s the fastest man on Earth."

"Abbett, come back to prepare."

A member of the Mexican coaching team shouted, and only then did Mikan reluctantly leave.

After about 20 minutes, Jaco Schroeder also went to compete.

"Now we see Dutch competitor Schroeder, he smoothly passed the first obstacle, the double-decker bus, and at this moment the timing begins."

The route in the competition has already been designed many times by the coaching team.

Therefore, each competitor’s route is about the same.

They all choose the shortest route.

Competitors participating in the Olympics generally don’t make mistakes controlling their horses.

The horse’s movement doesn’t affect its rhythm, and when preparing to jump, pressing with the legs gives the horse confidence; these are basic techniques for top riders.

Those elimination rules are hard to apply at this stage.

Schroeder performed well, completing the final jump in 79.52 seconds, no knocked rails or penalties, and is currently the best performer among the top 16 competitors.

When he rode back to the preparation area, he couldn’t hide his grin.

Huang Kaiwen discovered a problem.

There isn’t a single Black competitor in this sport.

Equestrian practice require a lot of financial support, and combined with the low returns, it’s mostly children from wealthy families.

In this case at the Olympics, the championship prize is 170,000 Euros.

Top competition horses can cost between tens to hundreds of thousands of Euros.

You spent a fortune on buying and training a horse, and winning the prize money won’t even be enough for one of the horse’s legs.