Olympics 2021: Fouaad Mirza completes his trailblazing run in the Individual Eventing Final of Equestrian

Fouaad Mirza, the first Indian Equestrian to qualify for the Olympics since the 2000 Sydney Games, has etched his name in sporting history. The Bangalore native became the first from the country to qualify for the finals of the Equestrian's Individual Eventing discipline.

Mirza ended with a respectable 23rd place finish in the medal round and his trailblazing run has given sporting fans plenty to cheer about.

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The Indian, who had qualified for the final round in 25th place, performed well in the medal round to climb two places and finish with a 12.40 penaly and a solid overall score of 54.60. He raced past two other riders from New Zealand and China, who had a healthy lead over him prior to the start.

Mirza at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics

Mirza had made a strong start to the Individual Eventing qualifications, with a 7th place finish in the Dressage Round. He then accumulated a total of 47.20 points in the Cross Country and Jumping Rounds to qualify for the finals.

The performance in both the qualification and final rounds has earned both Mirza and Seigneur Medicott plenty of praise back home as social media was flooded with congratulatory messages.

A long journey for Fouaad Mirza and Seigneur Medicott

This has been a long and tricky road leading up to Tokyo for the Individual Eventing finalists. It wasn't long ago that the 29-year old Mirza was contemplating a change in a partner for his 2020 Tokyo Olympics campaign.

Mirza's long-time companion for international competitions, Seigneur Medicott - the most experienced member of his squad - suffered an injury during a qualification event in 2019 and had been ruled out for the qualification rounds for the Games.

"[Seigneur] was ruled out of qualifications in 2019. The added time we have [because of the shift from 2020 to 2021] could get him through rehabilitation. If the Games were this year, it would have been doubtful," Mirza said in a webinar at the end of last year.

But a year-long delay for the Quadrennial ensured the Seigneur Medicott had enough time to recover and travel to Tokyo alongside Mirza.

And now, following three days of grueling competition, all those efforts and years of perseverance finally paid off as the duo made history for India by qualifying for the Finals of Individual Eventing.

He couldn't quite get his hands on a medal, but Mirza hopes that his efforts in Tokyo can put Equestrian sports on the map back home in India.

"I hope it encourages people to take up the sport and pursue it with the idea they can make a pro career out of it [...] It will hopefully encourage more to pursue their dreams. Hopefully we’ll see more of the Indian tricolour at equestrian events," Mirza said in his presser from Tokyo.