Oman's Future Olympian.

Pubdate: (16/05/2012)

Fresh from a competition where he held his own against international contenders, Sultan al Tooqi is well on his way to realising his Olympic goal

Although Sultan al Tooqi is quite young, he is filled with nostalgia about Oman's rich horse-riding

tradition. "Back in the 80s and 90s, equestrian riding used to be very a popular sport here in the sultanate. When other Middle Eastern teams used to see Omani riders taking part in competitions, they knew it was going to be a tough contest. That isn't the case anymore" he said.

The 18 year old is now one of the few prominent proponents of the sport here in the sultanate and the only one who has gone on to win a Youth Olympics silver medal in an equestrian event. Sultan talked to TheWeek about his recent experience competing against Olympic equestrian riders in Germany and his vision for the sport here in Oman in the coming years.

Although he was too young to compete at the Olympics this year, Sultan jumped at the opportunity to test himself against the best equestrian riders in the world, some of whom will go on to compete in London. Called 'Horses and Dreams Meets Great Britain 2012', this themed competition held in Hagan, Germany, involved riders jumping over 1.25m high poles, going around the circuit as fast as possible.

"It wasn't very hard for me to jump over 1.25m hurdles as I normally practice with 1.5m high ones, but the fact that I did not have my own horse there made it a little more challenging," he said. Indeed, earlier this year, Sultan won a 1.35m hurdle show jumping competition held at the Sharjah Equestrian and Racing Club.

So once he got to Germany, Sultan, unlike the other professional riders, had to go around looking at a number of horses and picking the one most suitable for him. "To get the perfect horse for a competition like this in such a short period of time is never easy," he explained.

"You have to get used to the

animal, the way it handles itself and all that takes time." However, if Sultan had any difficulty adjusting to his new horse, Nabateo, he did not let it show in his performance. In the first round of the competition, he competed against 28 riders to come in seventh with a time of 62.31seconds. In the second round, he managed to better his performance and came in fourth against 20 riders with a time of 35.95 seconds.

Although Sultan admits that there is room for improvement, his times were a good indicator of how his skills match up against some of the best in the sport. "I had no plan of competing in London this year as I only just reached the minimum age for qualification. It would have been extremely difficult for me to qualify this year. Most top riders peak professionally in their 40s, so I have a long way to go." However, come 2016, Sultan said he was lookin

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