Alex Hua Tian (; born 25 October 1989) is an

equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or Riding in British English) Examples of this are: *Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes in ...

sportsman who competes in eventing for China.

Early life

Hua Tian was born in London to a Chinese father and a British mother. He has a brother, called Jamie Hua Ming. The family lived in Beijing, before moving to Hong Kong. Hua started riding aged four. His family moved to

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

when he was 11, where Hua attended

Chafyn Grove School Chafyn Grove School is a private co-educational day and boarding preparatory school situated on the edge of the city of Salisbury in Wiltshire, in England's West Country. Founded in 1879 by Mr. W. C. Bird as an all-boys' school, it became Chafy ...

followed by

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

Career

Hua was the only Chinese event rider competing internationally between 2006 and 2016 and the first Chinese to be registered with International Federation for Equestrian Sports. He took a year out of his studies at Eton to prepare for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. He qualified four horses between October 2007 and May 2008. Although as a host nation competitor he only needed to achieve a minimum standard, he qualified in his own right through the rankings as the youngest ever Olympic event rider. In mid-2008 he achieved a ranking of 21st in the world. The equestrian industry in China has grown since the 2008 Olympics in Beijing to be the 3rd largest leisure pursuit among the elite in China. He was coached by the former world champion

Clayton Fredericks Clayton Fredericks (born 17 November 1967 in Moora, Western Australia) is an Australian equestrian who won a silver medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing as part of the three-day eventing team. He currently lives in Ocala, Florid ...

and his wife

Lucinda Fredericks Lucinda Fredericks (née Murray; born 28 September 1965) is an equestrian athlete who competes in eventing. Having formerly competed for Great Britain, she now represents Australia. Riding Headley Britannia, she has won three CCI 4* events; win ...

, who won the Burghley Horse Trials 2006 and Badminton Horse Trials 2007, at their base in Wiltshire, and by

Jane Gregory Jane Gregory (née Jane Bredin 30 June 1959 – 1 April 2011), was an international equestrian. She first rode for her country in 1994, competing in the World Equestrian Games of that year, and competed for Great Britain in Dressage at the A ...

, British Olympic Dressage Team 1996 and 2008. Having returned to Eton to complete his studies, Hua won a place at Bristol University to study Aerotechnology Engineering, which he postponed for three years to concentrate on working toward competing in London 2012. At the 2009, Blenheim International Horse Trials, Hua won the Best under-25 Prize and qualified for the

World Equestrian Games The FEI World Equestrian Games are the major international championships for equestrianism, and are administered by the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI). The games have been held every four years, halfway between sets of consecutive ...

in Lexington, September 2010. In November 2009, he won the inaugural HSBC Rising Star Award, presented to him in Copenhagen by Princess Haya, President of the International Equestrian Federation at the 'Oscars of Equestrian Sport'. In 2014, Hua won a silver medal at the Incheon Asian Games riding Temujin, owned by Edwina Qu Ye. Hua qualified for the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

in Rio with horses Harbour Pilot C and Don Geniro. He placed 8th with Don Geniro. In 2018 he won a bronze medal at the Jakarta Asian Games riding PSH Convivial. In 2019 he was a member of the first Chinese eventing team to qualify for the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

Early life

Career

See also

References

Further reading

External links