Kazuma Tomoto won the 4th place in the eventing of equestrian held on the 2nd of the Tokyo Olympics.

It is the first time in 89 years that a Japanese player has won a prize in an individual equestrian event since Takeichi Nishi, who won the gold medal at the 1932 Los Angeles Games.

What led to the feat was the strengthening of support from the "JRA" in anticipation of the Tokyo Olympics to the Japan Equestrian Federation.

A horse on which Kazuma Tomoto, who won a prize for the first time in 89 years in Japan in an individual equestrian event.


The name is ... "Vincy JRA". This JRA is an abbreviation for "Japan Racing Association" that manages domestic horse racing races such as "Arima Kinen" and "Japan Cup" of G1 races.



Behind Tomoto's prize was the strengthening of support from the JRA to the Japan Equestrian Federation in anticipation of the Tokyo Olympics.



The JRA has continued to provide various support to the Federation for the development of Japanese equestrian. Equestrian Park in Setagaya Ward, Tokyo, which was the venue for this tournament, is also a JRA facility. Since the last Olympics, the federation has implemented new strengthening measures such as purchasing high-quality horses and lending them to athletes and paying for athletes' overseas activities with support. We thought that not only financial support for athletes, but also gaining a lot of experience on a good horse would lead to strengthening.



It was Tomoto who switched to eventing from 2016 at about the same time as the start of this strengthening measure. Originally, Tomoto was a "show jumping" player who jumped over obstacles installed on the course in a fixed order, but he turned to eventing, which he had been invited to for participation in this tournament. .. I will leave my family in Japan and move to England, the home of eventing, alone.



After moving to England, I met Vincy JRA, which was purchased with support.

The Tokyo Olympics were held after steadily improving their abilities by accumulating experience mainly in Europe with this "buddy". I didn't win the medal in the group I was aiming for, but it led to a historic prize.



Tomoto said about Vincy JRA, "He was nervous, but he was too relaxed," and aimed at his partner who showed his strength without shrinking even on the big stage.



On top of that, he told JRA, who gave me the opportunity to ride this buddy, "I wouldn't have come to this stage without support, and I wouldn't have been active overseas. I'm really grateful."



A surprisingly unknown collaboration with the horse racing world has marked a new page in the history of Japanese equestrian.