Two Individual Show Jumping Champions to Be Crowned at the Asian Games for the First Time
The show jumping competition at the 20th Asian Games in Tokyo will be held under a new format. For the first time in the history of the Games, two separate individual competitions will be held alongside the team event. A total of 46 horse-and-rider combinations representing 15 countries will take part.
The existing Group A individual competition will feature obstacles set at 1.45 metres in the first round and 1.50 metres in the final. In the newly introduced Group B, riders will compete over courses with obstacles set at 1.55 metres. Each rider may compete in only one of the two individual competitions.
The format change follows a proposal by the Asian Equestrian Federation (AEF) aimed at raising the sporting level of show jumping at the Asian Games. The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) retained the existing individual competition while adding a new, higher-level individual event. As a result, three sets of medals in show jumping will be awarded for the first time at the 2026 Games.
Kazakhstan Returns to the Asian Games
Kazakhstan’s national equestrian team is returning to the Asian Games after a 12-year absence. In show jumping, the national team is making its return after a 20-year break, having last competed in the discipline at the Asian Games in 2006.
Kazakhstan will be represented by Oleg Sokolenko, Raisa Sokolenko, Nurila Turysbekova and Ksenia Batalova. The Kazakhstani riders will compete in both the team and individual events.
The riders are currently in Tokyo, completing the final stage of their preparation. The team is training according to plan and awaiting the draw, after which the starting order and tactical plans will be determined in greater detail.
In recent years, Kazakhstan’s equestrian athletes have regularly competed at international events, gaining valuable experience at high-level competitions. The national team’s return to the Asian Games provides Kazakhstan’s show jumping program with another opportunity to build on that international experience and represent the country at one of the continent’s largest sporting events.
In show jumping, success depends not only on the rider’s preparation but also on the partnership between horse and rider. Ahead of the competition, the coaching staff is therefore paying close attention to the physical condition and readiness of both the athletes and their horses.
Asia’s Leading Riders to Compete in Tokyo
The new format will bring together experienced riders from some of Asia’s leading equestrian nations, including athletes who have competed at the Olympic Games, World Championships and continental championships.
Saudi Arabia has won team gold at four of the last five Asian Games, taking the title in Doha in 2006, Guangzhou in 2010, Jakarta in 2018 and Hangzhou in 2023.
Members of Saudi Arabia’s victorious Hangzhou 2023 team, Ramzy Al Duhami and Abdulrahman Alrajhi, will return in Tokyo. Both also competed in the individual final at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, where Al Duhami finished 11th and Alrajhi 13th.
Al Duhami is also an Olympic team bronze medallist from London 2012, underlining the depth of experience within the Saudi team.
They will be joined by Khaled Almobty, who also competed at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Saudi Arabia will therefore field three riders with recent Olympic experience.
Al Duhami with Untouchable 32 and Alrajhi with Lorenzo ES will compete in the newly introduced higher-level Group B individual competition, while Almobty and Diana du Plevau Z are entered in Group A.
The United Arab Emirates will be represented in the new 1.55 m Group B individual competition by Omar Abdul Aziz Al Marzooqi riding Enjoy de la Mure. He won individual silver at the Hangzhou Asian Games and finished 19th at the Paris Olympics. The combination returned to top-level competition in Aachen this summer, finishing 13th individually at the FEI World Show Jumping Championship.
Japan will field an experienced trio led by Taizo Sugitani and Quincy 194. Sugitani has competed at seven Olympic Games and eight World Championships. In Pattaya in 2019, he became the first individual FEI Asian Show Jumping Champion.
The Japanese team also includes three-time Olympian Eiken Sato and Koki Saito, who finished 13th at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
Kuwait will be represented by Ali Al Khorafi, the silver medallist at the 2025 FEI Asian Championship with I and the individual champion at the 2018 Asian Games. He will compete in Tokyo aboard Inshallah.
Chinese Taipei will be represented by Yun-Chi Lin and Driss de Kerglenn. The combination won a bronze medal in 2025, their first medal at a major senior championship.
Competition to Take Place at Tokyo’s Olympic Equestrian Venue
The show jumping events will be held at JRA Equestrian Park. The venue hosted Olympic equestrian competitions in 1964 and 2021. Following redevelopment, the park reopened in 2023 and will host the equestrian events at the 2026 Games.
The courses will be designed by Dutch FEI Level 4 course designer Louis Konickx. Five years ago, he served as the show jumping technical delegate at the Tokyo Olympic Games.
Konickx has extensive experience at the highest level of the sport. He designed the show jumping courses at the 2022 FEI World Championships in Herning and has worked at major international championships and five-star competitions around the world.
His role in Tokyo will be particularly significant under the new Asian Games format, as courses will need to be designed for both the team competition and the two individual competitions, each with a different level of difficulty.
The Asian Games show jumping program will begin on October 1 with the team competition. The first rounds of the individual competitions will take place on October 3, followed by the final rounds on October 4, when the two individual champions will be crowned.