Pakistani equestrian athlete Usman Khan’s horse Eden du Verret, also known as Mirage, has arrived in Japan safely to participate in the Asian Games, but a shipment of essential horse supplies and medical kits has been delayed.
Pakistan will be participating in an Olympic discipline event for the first time at the Asian Games, where Usman Khan and Aidan Du Verret will represent Pakistan.
The equestrian competitions will be held from September 20 to 23 at Tokyo’s JRA Equestrian Park.
Despite the arrival of Aidan Du Verret in Japan, some of the necessary equipment of the Pakistan team could not be delivered on time, the agents responsible for transporting horses and equestrian equipment for the Olympics and Asian Games told the national federations that the equipment of several National Olympic Committees could not reach the place on time.
According to the agents, in addition to the original booking, another 4,900 kg of luggage had reached Liege, but due to the fixed weight limit of the aircraft, all the luggage could not be transported in one flight.
Upon arrival in Liège, all the equipment was made part of a single shipment, making it impossible to separate the equipment belonging to a specific National Olympic Committee from the flight.
According to the agents, immediate steps have been taken to speed up the transfer of goods to Japan.
According to the shared schedule, 19 parcels were to reach Narita from Doha on the September 16 flight, while another 34 parcels were to reach Japan on the September 17 flight.
Agents clarified that as the joint shipment is with Airline Cargo, it is not possible at this time to confirm which National Olympic Committee’s specific equipment is arriving via which flight.
After arriving in Japan, the goods will go through customs clearance before being transported to the venue of the equestrian competitions.
Pakistani rider Usman Khan, while seeking an immediate explanation on the status of the goods, has asked the relevant agents that the goods of the national Olympic committees have arrived so far and by when the goods of Pakistan will be delivered.
Usman Khan said that Pakistan had purchased a total cargo capacity of 200 kg, but 30 kg of the cargo has already been reduced, while 20 kg of food and several other items have also been removed from the cargo.
Usman Khan told the concerned officials that if Pakistan’s equipment had arrived on September 16, the team could have held a training session that night, but if the equipment reached September 17, Pakistan might face difficulties in the crucial preparation phase before the Asian Games.
Aidan du Verret completed an extended quarantine prior to departure for Japan, the horse completed a 10-day pre-export quarantine in Germany after a 60-day approved quarantine in France, for a total of 70 days in quarantine. After all the test results came back negative, the horse was allowed to leave for Japan.
The Pakistani team’s Asian Games campaign will be the country’s historic participation in the event. Eventing consists of three phases of horse riding, including dressage, cross country and show jumping.
The competitions will start with the medical examination of the horses on September 20, dressage on September 21, cross country on September 22 and show jumping on September 23.