KARACHI: Pakistan’s top equestrian and the only four-star rider of the country, Usman Khan, is recovering well from his injuries and has set his eyes on raising Pakistan’s flag at the Paris Olympics and next year’s Asian Games.
Usman, in 2019, became the first ever Pakistani to qualify for the Olympics equestrian event but the games in Tokyo were delayed for a year. In September 2020, his horse died due to a sudden heart attack.
He had to requalify and was almost there before he met an accident on May 16, 2021 at the Naracoorte Horse Trials Event — metres away from the finishing line.
Khan, 40, suffered serious injuries, while his second horse also died following an injury.
But the country’s top rider has picked himself up and vowed to represent Pakistan in a sport that’s rare in the country.
The athlete now has sought support from the government and has contacted federal minister for Inter Provincial Coordination Division, Fehmida Mirza, providing her details of events he needs to participate to achieve qualifications at the Paris Olympics 2024 and Asian Games 2022.
Sources privy to the matter told Geo News that the letter to the IPC minister was sent on Usman’s behalf by his father retired Major Mazhar Parvez Akhtar on July 8. The letter enlists over 20 events in which the Pakistani equestrian intends to participate.
The athlete has requested funds to implement the plan, and two horses.
According to Khan, the horses provided now will campaign for Pakistan at the Asian Games and the Paris Olympics.
Meanwhile, another sourced revealed that while Khan has sent a fresh letter to Fehmida Mirza, the athlete is still waiting for a response from the Pakistan Sports Board on an earlier invoice of $300,000 he sent to them in January 2021 for procurement and training of a second horse for his requalification attempt after the death of his first horse.