Fouaad Mirza (born 6 March 1992) is an Indian

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 ...

who won silver medals in both individual eventing and team eventing at the

2018 Asian Games The 2018 Asian Games ( id, Pesta Olahraga Asia 2018 or ''Asian Games 2018''), officially known as the 18th Asian Games and also known as Jakarta-Palembang 2018 or Indonesia 2018, was a Asia, continental multi-sport event that was held from 18 A ...

. He became the first Indian since 1982 to win a medal at an individual equestrian event at the

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until t ...

. Mirza qualified 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 ...

, becoming the first Indian equestrian since

Imtiaz Anees Imtiaz Anees (born 25 December 1970) is an Indian equestrian. He competed in the individual eventing at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both ...

(2000) to participate at the Games.

Early life

Fouaad Mirza was born in

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. His father, Dr Hasneyn Mirza, is one of India's top equine veterinarians and is a sixth generation horseman himself (being the great-grandson of Mirza Ismail and the great-great-great grandson of

Agha Aly Asker Agha Aly Asker (1808–1891; ''née'' Agha Ali Asker Shirazie) was a Persian horse trader and landowner who emigrated to Bangalore in 1824 from Shiraz, Iran. He is considered as the founding father of the Persian diaspora in the city whose legacy ...

). His family owns a stud farm in Bangalore. He has an elder brother, who is also a veterinarian. Fouaad's interest in horses grew since he was a toddler. He started riding since he was 5 years old.

Career

At the age of 22, Mirza took part in the

2014 Asian Games The 2014 Asian Games ( ko, 2014년 아시아 경기대회/2014년 아시안 게임, Icheon sip-sa nyeon Asia gyeonggi daehoe/Icheon sip-sa nyeon Asian Geim), officially known as the 17th Asian Games ( ko, 제17회 아시아 경기대회/제17회 ...

, held in

Incheon Incheon (; ; or Inch'ŏn; literally "kind river"), formerly Jemulpo or Chemulp'o (제물포) until the period after 1910, officially the Incheon Metropolitan City (인천광역시, 仁川廣域市), is a city located in northwestern South Kore ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

. He finished in 5th position in team eventing along with fellow riders Sangram Singh, Mrityunjay Singh Rathore and Ajai Poovaiah. He finished in 10th position in the individual eventing category. In 2017, Mirza moved to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

to train with equestrian

Bettina Hoy Bettina Hoy (born Bettina Overesch: November 7, 1962) is an Olympic-level equestrian rider, who competes for Germany in Eventing competitions. Bettina competed in the 1984 Summer Olympics, 1996 Summer Olympics, and in the 2004 Sum ...

in Warendorf. After Hoy took a coaching position for the Dutch eventing team, he moved to Ganderkesee to train with

Sandra Auffarth Sandra Auffarth (born 27 December 1986) is a German equestrian. At the 2012 Summer Olympics she competed in the Individual eventing with Opgun Louvo. Auffarth and Louvo had won team gold and individual bronze at the 2012 Summer Olympics. One y ...

. Fouaad Mirza's move to Germany was a turning point in his career. He won two silver medals at the Equestrian Jumping Final at the

Asian Games 2018 The 2018 Asian Games ( id, Pesta Olahraga Asia 2018 or ''Asian Games 2018''), officially known as the 18th Asian Games and also known as Jakarta-Palembang 2018 or Indonesia 2018, was a continental multi-sport event that was held from 18 August ...

Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...

, one in individual eventing, and one in team eventing along with fellow Indian riders Rakesh Kumar, Ashish Malik and Jitender Singh. With this feat, Mirza became the first Indian to win an Asian Games medal in Equesterian event after a gap of 36 years. In 2019, Mirza received the

Arjuna Award The Arjuna Award, officially known as Arjuna Awards for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games, is the second-highest sporting honour of India, the highest being the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. The award is named after Arjuna, one ...

from the

president of India The president of India ( IAST: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Droupadi Murmu ...

Ram Nath Kovind Ram Nath Kovind (; born 1 October 1945) is an Indian politician who served as the 14th President of India from 2017 to 2022. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He is the second person after K. R. Narayanan, from the Dalit community ...

. In October 2019, he won gold at CCI3*-S event held in

Strzegom Strzegom (german: Striegau) is a town in Świdnica County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. It is the seat of the Gmina Strzegom administrative district (gmina). It lies approximately north-west of Świdnica, and west of th ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

with his horse Dajara. On 7 January 2020, Mirza qualified for the

2020 Tokyo 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 1 ...

after finishing first in South East Asia, Oceania group. He became the first Indian equestrian in the last 20 years to qualify for the Olympics. and the first Indian equestrian to reach the finals of the Olympic individual eventing category. He finished in 23rd position aboard the 2006 Westphalian

gelding A gelding is a castrated male horse or other equine, such as a pony, donkey or a mule. Castration, as well as the elimination of hormonally driven behavior associated with a stallion, allows a male equine to be calmer and better-behaved, makin ...

, Seigneur Medicott.

Personal life

Fouaad Mirza studied

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

in the University of Northampton,

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

. He currently resides in

and trains under his coach,

, who is the winner of the individual bronze medal and team gold medal in 2012 Summer Olympics. He is sponsored by the Embassy Group, which is a privately held real estate developer based in

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

References

1992 births Living people Indian male equestrians Sportspeople from Bangalore Equestrians at the 2014 Asian Games Equestrians at the 2018 Asian Games Medalists at the 2018 Asian Games Asian Games silver medalists for India Asian Games medalists in equestrian Recipients of the Arjuna Award Equestrians at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic equestrians for India Indian people of Iranian descent {{India-equestrian-bio-stub