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Hua Tian: Chinese hope
I've put myself down for double maths, physics and chemistry, but I might skip one of those. I'm not sure if I'll be energetic enough to do all four after the Olympics.
Alex Hua Tian
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Born in Hong-Kong, educated amongst England's high society at Eton and the son of a property tycoon - China's first-ever Olympic three-day eventer Alex Hua Tian will be one of the more colourful stories to come out of Beijing.
The leggy 18-year-old is not only the first Chinese rider to take part in the Olympic three-day event, but remarkably he qualified with four different horses.
Five other Chinese riders will go for Olympic gold, in the show jumping and dressage, but Hua Tian is the only eventer, and his background and his achievements have made him quite a star.
"It does turn a few heads. I was the first Chinese rider to be registered with the International Federation for Equestrian Sports (FEI), so I think a few people will possibly be a bit doubtful," said Hua Tian.
"But I think I have proved myself over the last year and hopefully they'll be cheering me on."
Start
"I've had possibly the best start in riding anyone could have. In Hong Kong, the riding school had fun instructors, good ponies and we just had a blast whizzing around, jumping a few fences."
Although not fluent in Mandarin due to moving to England when he was 10, Hua Tian insists he is as proud as any Chinese athlete taking part at the Games on home soil.
"How do you explain how you feel about going to the biggest sporting event in the world for your home country? It's the biggest honour. I try not to think about it really," he said.
"In the end I am probably in the best situation out of all the people there because I've never been to the Olympics before, so I don't know what I don't know."
The teenager certainly has a lot in his favour, with expert training from husband and wife team Lucinda ands Clayton Fredericks - who themselves will be at the Olympics representing Australia.
A wealthy sponsor in Jiang Fengcan has allowed him to flourish and his mother has backed him all the way and has been managing his career until the Olympics.
School
Taking a year off of school at Eton, Hua Tian will return to his A Levels just a week after the closing ceremony in Beijing.
"How can you say you're missing out when you're going to the Olympics?" he said.
"It's a real shame that I'm missing my friends from my year because they'll have gone by the time I get back, but I don't see it as missing as anything really.
"I've put myself down for double maths, physics and chemistry, but I might skip one of those.
"I'm not sure if I'll be energetic enough to do all four after the Olympics."
