Usman Khan, Eden du Veret set for Asian Games

This is possibly the longest overall quarantine period in Asian Games pre-export history. All test results were negative, thanks God,” Usman said. “We have now activated the 72-hour final preparation plan,” said the eventer.

Usman and his horse had moved from France to Germany for the final ten-day pre-export quarantine. This is the first time that the Pakistani pair will be representing the country in the quadrennial event. He also had qualified for the previous three Asian Games but did not proceed due to financial reasons.

Usman is a big name in Pakistan’s equestrian sport. He had also qualified for the Tokyo Olympics but his horse Azad Kashmir died. He had to revise the qualification process and when again he was just near the finish line in Australia in the Olympics qualifiers his horse Kasheer fell and died on the spot with Usman sustaining critical injuries.

He was then shifted to hospital and after months of serious treatment he got a new life. He was depressed and did not know how to stand up again but eventually his determination and dreams forced him to revive his career.

He again returned to the circuit and qualified for the 2024 Paris Games. However he could not sustain his position after he missed an important event in South Africa which dropped his ranking. And now he was on the reserves list.

He could feature in the Paris Games in case anyone would drop. But he opted against taking that chance knowing that his horse was young and it would need further time to become ready for such a top level competition.

He has no back-up horse and it shows how he manages his game.