(L-R) Silver medalist Korntawat Samran of Thailand, gold medalist Alex Hua Tian of China and bronze medalist Kazuhiro Yoshizawa of Japan celebrate during the medal ceremony for the Eventing individual competition during the 19th Asian Games on 2 October 2023, in Hangzhou (CHN) © FEI/Yong Teck Lim
The 20th Asian Games will bring eventing back to Tokyo this week, with 33 combinations from ten nations set to contest team and individual honours. Although the Games are centred on Aichi-Nagoya, Equestrian will take place some 250 kilometres away at the Equestrian Park in Tokyo, also known as Baji Koen. The historic venue, which opened in 1940, hosted Equestrian sport at both the Tokyo 1964 and Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games before reopening after renovation in 2023.
Eventing has been part of the Asian Games programme since equestrian sport was introduced at the 1982 edition in New Delhi (IND). The 2026 competition will take place over three consecutive days in a hybrid format, with dressage and jumping at CCI3* level and cross-country at CCI2*-L level.
China made history at the 2023 edition in Hangzhou (CHN), claiming its first Asian Games Eventing gold medals with victories in both the team event and individual competition through Alex Hua Tian.
This time, Japan line up a team rich in championship experience, as China return to defend their titles against a field that includes several familiar Asian Games medallists.
Ryuzo Kitajima leads the Japanese portion of the victory lap, quite enthusiastically, on foot. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
Few nations arrive with stronger credentials than the hosts. Three of Japan’s four athletes – Yoshiaki Oiwa, Toshiyuki Tanaka and Kazuma Tomoto – were members of the squad that claimed historic eventing bronze at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Japan’s first Olympic medal in the discipline.
For Oiwa, the Asian Games also bring back memories of previous success. He won individual gold in 2018 in Jakarta-Palembang (INA), ahead of India’s Fouaad Mirza and China’s Alex Hua Tian.
Remarkably, all three medallists from that podium return eight years later for another Asian Games campaign.
Tomoto has also established himself among the most consistent Japanese performers on the championship stage, finishing fourth individually in Tokyo, and fifth in Paris 2024. This time he rides the eight-year-old Fer de Lance, with whom he won the CCI3*-S at Miki (JPN) in May 2026.
Japan aim to regain a title they last won in 2018, when they took team gold before claiming silver behind China in Hangzhou in 2023. The Japanese team now return to the Asian Games with considerable experience at the highest level of the sport.
Alex Hua Tian and Manjushri. Photo by Yong Teck Lim.
China’s challenge is again led by defending individual champion Alex Hua Tian. His victory in Hangzhou in 2023 completed a full set of Asian Games individual medals following silver in 2014 in Incheon (KOR) and bronze in 2018. China’s team success marked another milestone for a nation that has become an increasingly significant force in Asian Eventing.
Hua Tian returns with Manjushri, fresh from winning the CCI3*-S at Alnwick (GBR) in July 2026. He also finished 12th individually at the FEI Eventing World Championship 2026 in Aachen (GER) and is currently 17th in the FEI Eventing World Athlete Rankings.
Thailand has been another consistent presence on the Asian championship podium. Korntawat Samran and B.Grimm Billy Elmy took individual silver behind Hua Tian in Hangzhou in 2023 and followed that with bronze at the FEI Asian Championships 2025 in Pattaya (THA). Thailand went one better in the team competition there, taking gold ahead of India and Hong Kong.
Ashish Limaye (IND) and Willy Be Dun. Photo by Yong Teck Lim.
That result also underlined the strength of the wider field heading to Tokyo. India brings the reigning FEI Asian Champion, Ashish Limaye, who won individual gold with Willy Be Dun in Pattaya in 2025 and helped his country secure team silver.
With the medallists from both Hangzhou 2023 and Pattaya 2025 represented in Tokyo, the challenge to the host nation comes not only from established names but from combinations that have been at the forefront of Asian Eventing throughout the current championship cycle.
Alex Hua Tian (China) and Don Geniro compete at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. Photo by Shannon Brinkman Photography.
The eventing competition will return to familiar Olympic ground, but with an important difference. At Tokyo 2020, dressage and jumping were held at Baji Koen while cross country took place separately at Sea Forest in Tokyo Bay. For the Asian Games 2026, all three phases will be centred at the Equestrian Park itself.
That gives this competition a different character from the Olympic eventing contest. Cross country will become part of the sporting action within the park rather than taking the athletes and horses to a separate venue, bringing all three phases together at one of Japan’s most historic equestrian sites.
Poland’s Marcin Konarski has been appointed Cross Country Course Designer. A Level 4 FEI Course Designer and Technical Delegate, Konarski served as Eventing Technical Delegate at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and has extensive international course-designing experience, including many years at Strzegom.
His task in Tokyo is to create the decisive middle phase within an established urban Equestrian venue, adding a new chapter to a park that has already staged sport at two Olympic Games.
Eventing begins with dressage on September 21, followed by cross country on September 22 and the final jumping phase and medal ceremonies on September 23. There is no live stream for this event, but you can follow along with live scores, start lists and more here.
