Fouaad Mirza (born 6 March 1992) is an Indian equestrian who won silver medals in both individual

eventing Eventing (also known as three-day eventing or horse trials) is an equestrian event where the same horse and rider combination compete against other competitors across the three disciplines of dressage, cross-country, and show jumping. This ...

and team eventing at the

2018 Asian Games The 2018 Asian Games ( or ''Asian Games 2018''), officially known as the 18th Asian Games (), and also known as Jakarta-Palembang 2018 or Indonesia 2018, were a Asia, continental multi-sport event that was held from 18 August to 2 September 201 ...

. 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 for athletes of Asia. The Games were regulated by Asian Games Federation from the 1951 Asian Games, first Games in New Delhi, India in 1951, until ...

. Mirza qualified for the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

, becoming the first Indian equestrian since Imtiaz Anees (2000) to participate at the Games.

Early life

Fouaad Mirza was born in

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. 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). 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 (), officially known as the 17th Asian Games () and also known as Incheon 2014 (), were a pan-Asian multi-sport event held from 19 September to 4 October 2014 in Incheon, South Korea. On 17 April 2007, Incheon was awarded ...

, held in

Incheon Incheon is a city located in northwestern South Korea, bordering Seoul and Gyeonggi Province to the east. Inhabited since the Neolithic, Incheon was home to just 4,700 people when it became an international port in 1883. As of February 2020, ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

. 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 lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

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 2004 Summer Oly ...

Warendorf Warendorf (, Westphalian language, Westphalian: ''Warnduorp'') is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, and capital of Warendorf (district), Warendorf District. The town is best known today for its well-preserved medieval town centre, for eq ...

. After Hoy took a coaching position for the Dutch eventing team, he moved to

Ganderkesee Ganderkesee (Northern Low Saxon: ''Gannerseer'') is a municipality in Oldenburg district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Geography Ganderkesee is located on the northern edge of a nature park called "Wildeshauser Geest". The northernmost part of the c ...

to train with Sandra Auffarth. 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 ( or ''Asian Games 2018''), officially known as the 18th Asian Games (), and also known as Jakarta-Palembang 2018 or Indonesia 2018, were a continental multi-sport event that was held from 18 August to 2 September 2018 in ...

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

, 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 given 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 Arjun ...

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

Strzegom Strzegom () 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 the regional capit ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

with his horse Dajara. On 7 January 2020, Mirza qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics 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 (Help:IPA/English, /ˈɡɛldɪŋ/) is a castration, castrated male horse or other equine, such as a pony, donkey or a mule. The term is also used with certain other animals and livestock, such as domesticated Camelidae, camels. By compa ...

, Seigneur Medicott.

Personal life

Fouaad Mirza studied

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

in the University of Northampton,

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

. He currently resides in

and trains under his coach, Sandra Auffarth, 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 ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

References

1992 births Living people Indian male equestrians Sportspeople from Bengaluru 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 silver 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