Mom! I’m having fun!

Based on the conversation I had with my mother on Skype today (with help from my husband – the technology just about blew her mind), I’m a little worried some of you are getting the wrong impression of the quality of experience here. My mom thought I was frustrated and depressed by the Canadian result. Well, actually I am. But that accounts for just one part of the experience – the rest is just awesome. Good sport is good sport, no matter who wins. The eventing competition was probably the highest caliber we’ve ever seen in that discipline. There were many, many memorable performances and wonderful horses, such as the huge, and huger hearted McInlaigh, who won individual silver after almost getting spun at the jog yesterday. Sure I’m here for Canada, but when they don’t manage to fill my cup with happiness, I just get it elsewhere.

Feels like 43

That’s what the Weather Network says about the 31 degrees it currently shows on the mercury here at noon. Make no mistake; it’s hot, and it’s humid. I hate air conditioning but I’m using it almost constantly in my room. It’s the strangest thing if I wake up in the middle of the night. The fan of the A/C runs constantly, which is what heaters in hotels in Alberta do when I’m there every February. So sometimes when I awake, I’m not sure if I’m too hot because the heat is too high (Alberta) or if I’m too hot because the A/C is too low (Hong Kong). Right now I have the A/C switched off for a little while to take a break from the white noise. Soon I’ll have to turn it back on because my fingers are starting to stick to the keys, and I’m starting to feel like having a beer even though I just finished my morning coffee.

Not What We had Hoped For

One reason Rio was so great last year was because Canada did well in all three disciplines. I’m sorry to say that our eventing team result has fallen far short of expectations here. I am scratching my head because I would have thought we could pull off one clear round in the show jumping, or at least a four faulter. We were the ONLY team not to do that last night. To quote the 22 year old Dutch rider Tim Lips, who proved that youth and inexperience are not impossible to overcome (he finished 15th), “it’s a good course, not too big and with easy lines. I think there will be a lot of clear rounds.” Even the two teams that finished behind us – Brazil with only three riders and France with two – managed to squeak out a clear round or two. Of course, Laura Kraut was helping the US riders on the course walk, and the individual gold medalist Hinrich Romeike (more on him in a moment) had his personal show jumping coach fly in from Deutschland yesterday morning.

Why, oh why, are the Canadian eventers not getting help in dressage and show jumping from the best in those disciplines? Goodness knows we have people in our own country who could be called upon. The overall quality of performances by our team here was better than in Athens, and we can’t forget that it was a young, inexperienced group. The trouble is, we are not getting better fast enough. The rest of the world is not standing still; everyone else is also improving. I know I shouldn’t be whining when I don’t have a solution to offer or a couple million bucks to throw at athlete development and horse shopping sprees. But the first step to finding a solution is identifying the problem…

A Lovable German

My heart had already melted for Hinrich the individual gold medalist in the post-cross country press conference, because he almost cried talking about how great his horse is. He was the undisputed star of the conference after the medal ceremonies; no one even bothered to ask the other Germans questions, in spite of the fact that they have won team gold and vindicated themselves after it was snatched away by Bettina’s extra circle four years ago. But Hinrich is just so sweet and funny and humble and…I have to say it, un-Germanic. The man is a dentist for goodness’ sake – an amateur (rider, not dentist). He rides in the evenings after work. I mean, how can you not love a guy who wins double gold at the Olympics and says, “I don’t want to get philosophical. When you do this well you just go and party.”

I wish Hinrich was my dentist. I’d go a lot more often.

I noticed that even though the stands were about three quarters full for the team show jumping round, they had emptied considerably after the one hour break that preceded the top 25 second round. Jenn Ward, always on top of things, knew the reason. “An hour break? What are they supposed to do? They can’t all get into the souvenir shop!” I thought I saw some protesters in the stands early in the evening, but it was just Germans trying to do the wave. The loudest noise around me in the press tribune (besides the constant yakking of two Americans nearby) was the whirring of about 50 camera shutters all taking the exact same shots from the exact same place at the exact same time. There were no photo positions inside the stadium, so most of them were sitting down in front of me in the stands. I have to say I agree with my husband Jan when he wonders why there is a need for so many people to take the same pictures.

No Thoroughbreds in Eventing?

It seems that those who predicted that the short format would spell the end of Thoroughbreds in the sport were right. Breed information is displayed on the start lists, and there was not a single Thoroughbred identified out of more than 70 horses. However, an awful lot of the 20 horses whose breeds were identified as ‘not listed’ looked suspiciously like Thoroughbreds. I happen to know for a fact that Poggio II, Madison Park and Livewire are all registered Thoroughbreds. I’m sure that their riders and owners are not ashamed of that fact, so I don’t understand why the FEI decided that Thoroughbreds are not worthy of identification as such. The second most common bloodline after ‘not listed’ was Irish Sport Horses. Four out of five on the British and Irish teams, as well as three out of five of the Americans, are ISH. The FEI press release today pointed out that every last one of them made it through to the show jumping.

Far from the Madding Crowds

As the photo here attests, I have found myself a little bit of peace and quiet to come back to at the end of the day or night. The university guest house is just a five minute taxi ride from the venue (or two ten minute taxi rides and two circuits of the venue if I get a driver who doesn’t speak English). Actually, if I squint a little I can almost imagine that I’m in Hawaii. Except for all the Chinese restaurants. Okay, I swore to myself I wouldn’t talk about food because some bloggers talk about it just a little too much, but I’ll allow myself this: I might, just might, be getting tired of rice. And rice crackers. And rice noodles. I would like to eat a potato.

Check in tomorrow, following the first leg of team dressage. I will get my knives out and start sharpening them in preparation for my judging commentary.


Look! Just like any other tropical island!


Ok, there are just a few (dozen) skyscrapers too.

Hey Hong Kong, are you Interested Yet?

According to W. K. Lam, the big Kahuna of the equestrian events, there were more than 10,000 spectators at the Beas River venue for the cross country yesterday. Hm. Ok, well there were 18,000 tickets for sale and according to reports pre-games, they were sold out. So either someone bought and lost a lot of tickets, or too many locals read the snore-fest article in the Sunday paper and decided it would be more fun to go to work on Monday morning. Whatever. It was still awesome and I enjoyed being able to see all the tough complexes from the ropes whenever I wanted. There were lots of people, but it was no Badminton out there. It is an undeniable fact that the entire course was eminently jumpable. Refusals and falls were in a minority, and the ambulances – both human and equine – never moved. As Mike Etherington-Smith predicted, time was a huge factor.


What does it take to keep these people awake?
Snoozing at the cross country.


All Good or All Bad

Oh how fitting it was that Mark Todd was first on cross country. He really did make a four star course look like a schooling exercise – hasn’t lost his mojo, not one little bit. Mike Etherington-Smith’s creation delivered good or bad results more or less along national lines. Countries seemed to have a very good day or a very bad one. It would be fair to say that the USA, New Zealand and France were considered strong medal contenders going into this three-day-event, and all three countries suffered similar fates yesterday. Only three horses fell on course: Amy Tryon’s Poggio II (USA), then Andrew Nicholson’s Lord Killinghurst (NZL) and finally, the French team was dealt the final insult when their third member and last hope, Jean Renaud Adde and Haston d’Elpegere, fell at the innocuous fourth fence. At the other end of the success-o-meter, the Aussies brought home five clear rounds; both the Germans and British had four out of five.

And Canada? Well, fate saved something special for our keen young team. Kyle and Sandra had our hopes so high with clear rounds and lower than average time penalties (the closest anyone got to the time was the last Australian, Shane Rose, 23 seconds over the 8 minute limit). Then our two youngsters Selena and Sam had a pair of stops/runouts each. It was all on Mike to bring us the third clear round we needed. When Kingpin blew past the skinny second part of fence 9, Mike’s stirrup caught on the side of the jump and was ripped off the bar. The runout was unfortunate; the 30-40 seconds it took Mike to put his stirrup back on was a kick in the crotch. Canada is very unlikely to climb up out of ninth place tonight in the show jumping. We trail eighth placed Ireland by more than five rails. If Canada doesn’t finish in the top eight, equestrian sport risks losing its Sport Canada funding. WAAAAHHHHH! Don’t quit on us DOC, we are getting better, really we are!

Press Conferences Are Gay

So far the press conferences have been totally lame. Almost no one asks a question and when they do, it’s a stupid one. I loved the way Mike E. Smith took care of the queries that were beneath his dignity. A German journalist asked if it was true that some of the fake rocks that covered sprinklers and drains on the track had been moved at the last moment, forcing riders to do an early morning walk before their rides. “Nonsense,” was his reply, followed by a reiteration that he didn’t know who her source was but it was utter nonsense. An American writer then asked him why, if he knew the time would be impossible to make, he made the time so tight. His dry reply: “that’s a very simple question with a simple answer.” He then explained that if you take the standard cross country speed of 570 meters per minute and divide it into the length of the course, you get a number. That is the time.

Then we had the Lucinda and Clayton Show. The husband and wife that make up two fifths of the Australian team have pretty much been THE Australian team at press conferences. In fact, after the dressage, with Australia leading, they were the only two at the conference, even though another Aussie rider, Megan Jones, was in the top four after dressage. The Fredericks pair also coach China’s single entry, nineteen year old Alex Hua Tian, who made it only as far as fence 8 before parting company with his horse Chico. During the press conference post-cross country, the first question asked when the Aussies took the podium came from a Hong Kong reporter who wanted Clayton to comment on Alex’s performance. Before Clayton could answer, the question was shut down. “Questions for Australian team only” was the message from the militant mystery woman in charge of the conference. Great! Way to be nice to your host country.

Brian! It’s Soo-goy!

In his trademark style, Brian O’Connor has already begun mispronouncing names. New Zealand rider Heelan Tompkins really threw him for a loop. I think I heard three different pronunciations during her eight minute round, none of them correct. Her horse, Sugoi, became Sugio. At least he was consistent there. It was Sugio every time.


Chefs or Godfathers?

Our dressage team was arguably the best dressed at the jog, but photos posted on Ali Buchanan’s online album reveal a somewhat incongruous outfit for Ali himself. Sure, his tie matches the ladies’ tops, but the rest of his look is pure Russian Mafia. If you don’t believe me, you can see for yourself here.

Another dressage team has bitten the dust, with a second head-shake from the ground jury for Nilo Vo, Rogerio Clementino’s horse. For anyone who read my Pan Am blog from Rio last year, here are a couple of tidbits that will bring back fond memories. When he was rejected at the first jog, apparently Mariette (who is here in the role of TD) couldn’t scuttle fast enough over to the ground jury. But they stood fast and when Nilo Vo looked no better the next day, that was that. And guess who the chef d’equipe of the Brazilian dressage team is? Why that Godfather of them all, Salin Nigri – who has been quoted in the press as vehemently disagreeing with the ground jury’s conclusion on Rogerio’s horse.

Onto the Night Shift

Finally the early mornings are done. The cross country was the last competition to take place before 7 pm. There will now be some late nights – actually a lot of them. It doesn’t really cool down at night, and I don’t think there is much difference in the heat between 7 pm and 7 am. I’m a morning person, but 5 am is a bit more than even I enjoy, especially if I have to walk the 1.5 km from my guest house to the train station, where I either catch a train or a taxi. I’ll take the nights, thanks.


Jenn Ward shows off her Canadian team swag at the Panda jump.

(Eventing) Dressage is boring, but we love the shopping!

I was initially both surprised and impressed that the stands were about two thirds full at 6:30 Saturday morning for the first leg of eventing dressage. When the stands began to empty mid-competition two hours later, I thought it was because it was getting hot. That is, until I saw the article on page three of the English language South China Sunday Morning Post which ran with a large photo of Hong Kongers fast asleep in the grand stands. It turns out people left because they were less than fascinated by what many at first thought was “warm up exercises” and were disappointed when it was announced that the competitor was now finished. “Deeply bored” is what one local was quoted as having said, but it wasn’t just the Hong Kongers who were tranquilized by what they saw. A man from New York, whose wife had “dragged” him to Hong Kong, had expected to see horse racing. “I have to say this is the most boring thing I’ve ever seen in my life,” he said. The article concludes with the statement that if spectators were bored with the dressage, they were revived with their visits to the souvenir shop. “This is where you can feel the Olympic atmosphere,” said one happy shopper.

The crowd’s lack of ability to grasp the finer points of dressage is not for lack of effort on the part of the Hong Kong organizers. Last night I saw a TV commercial in which all three disciplines were described for the benefit of potential spectators – and clearly ticket sales have been a great success locally (a good thing, since they were almost impossible to obtain abroad).

This morning, eventing dressage day two, the stands are about two thirds full – but the Sunday paper would have come out after most of these folks set out for the venue at 4 or 5 am. By about 9 am it’s hot enough that the stands are fluttering with day sheets doubling as fans. There has been a truly nasty TV camera at the C end of the ring that has bothered most of the horses. I will be very surprised if it is still there for the dressage in a couple of days. The other thing that has predictably caused some saucer eyes in the ring has been the jumbo screen in the corner. I saw Leslie Reid at the opening bash the other night, and she says that it’s worse when the screen shows cartoons (of the official Games mascots) or ads, where the images change quickly. The stadium is not very big, and the bottom of the screen is at horse’s eye level.

It may not have thrilled all the spectators, but there have been some stunning rides that nearly transcended the usual gap between ‘event’ dressage and ‘real’ dressage. Of course a couple of horses lost the plot completely out there – perhaps that was more entertaining to the crowds. Canada had a couple of really good results, including Selena O’Hanlon turning plenty of heads in her Canadian team debut and leading the team after the first phase. Mike Winter was disappointed that he made a couple of mistakes including a wrong lead in the canter depart (the other left, Kingpin) but his canter tour was great otherwise, and it’s gratifying to have two Canucks break the 50 mark (penalties, not percent!).

Tomorrow, the day of reckoning

Everyone, including the course designer Mike Etherington-Smith, predicts that time is going to be an enormous factor tomorrow on the cross country. The course is fabulously beautiful, with themes like pandas, dragons and pagodas marvelously represented by David Evans and his crew of builders. It occupies an awfully tight bit of real estate, though, and in some places when you look at the course it is cluttered and almost maze-like with obstacles and decorations. Mike Winter described the track as a “sea of ropes”, which will likely disappear once 18,000 spectators are packed along the lanes and around obstacles. There are two serious water complexes in the first half of the course, and as Sam Taylor says, “every third question is a line question.” The leader board will change a lot, with many teams and individuals mere time penalties apart from one another. Let’s hope they all get home in one piece. The forecast is calling for thunder storms this morning.

Dressage on the Way

We don’t know why the dressage jog was held two days earlier than it usually is (team test isn’t until Wednesday), but our three horses sailed through. The same can’t be said for a few others, including Beatriz Ferrer-Salat’s Faberge, who wasn’t even presented due to a flared up old injury. Spain will no longer compete as a team, but as two individuals. Brazilian history-maker Rogerio Clementino has to re-present Nilo Vo this morning. I heard a bit of a dressage funny from another journalist yesterday. The much-publicized spook of Satchmo at the jumbo screen during training apparently happened, coincidentally, at the moment that an image of Anky holding up a gold medal popped up.

Blame Canada

There have been some protesters here, but security is very on the ball. This morning one man tried to unfurl a banner but a blanket was thrown over him so quickly that no one saw what he was protesting about. One protester was caught with a Tibetan flag hidden under a Canadian flag. I guess the Canadian flag was chosen because as a nation we are famous for our political apathy.

Other Glitches

The poor French eventers just didn’t get a break. They’ve lost their two stars, and hopes of defending their title from Athens are pretty much dead. The USEF decided to do maintenance on their website yesterday, which was perhaps not the cleverest thing they could have done in the middle of the HOG. Poor Brian Sosby couldn’t post his effusively enthusiastic blog as a result.

Hello Kitty Meets Buddha

Yesterday I went to the island of Lantau with my sister Julie, who flew in from Japan to hang out with me for a few days. Back home, where we live a day’s drive from each other, we don’t manage to see each other more than once a year; but we had no trouble meeting up at a train station on the other side of the world. Lantau is the home of the world’s biggest outdoor, seated bronze Buddha (all three of those features are necessary for it to claim it’s ‘world’s biggest’ status). There are other bigger Buddhas elsewhere, but this one has extra height, being at the top of a 200-plus-stairs climb on a promontory. My friends know I’m no Buddhist, but I must admit I had some Zen moments (or perhaps it was the beer) looking at the glorious view from the Buddha’s feet.

I’ve spent quite a bit of time on the subway and trains already. Urban public transit is always a great way to see a cross section of the population – sometimes at closer quarters than strictly required or desired. Hong Kongers are pretty uninhibited people, and the trains are always buzzing with conversation - unlike subways in other cities where people read, sleep or stare blankly into the middle distance. Couples snuggle quite openly; there is almost a party atmosphere. The one thing I hate is not being able to speak the language; I’m not used to being completely ignorant of the local lingo. Many of the cab drivers don’t speak English, so I resort to a lot of pointing. It doesn’t always work, and I’ve taken more than one detour getting back to my digs at the university Guesthouse. People are just so darned hospitable and helpful here, though. I’m not exaggerating when I say that this is the friendliest place I’ve ever been.

When It Rains It Pours

Nothing in Hong Kong is done in half measures, including the rain. Holy cats and dogs does it come down! Canadians here who are used to serious winter storms and wind report that the typhoon the other day seemed rather tame compared to the dire warnings to stay away from windows and not leave the hotel – but then it wasn’t quite a full-on typhoon, either. No one has scoffed at the rain, however. If I were to walk out the door of my guest house right now without a rain coat, in about five seconds I would be as wet as if I’d fallen into a hot tub. Looks like everyone was all freaky about the wrong thing; it’s not the heat that will distinguish these games, it’s the biblical precipitation.

Nothing exciting to report about the flight over. The AC flight attendants were the usual tired old lifers, the food awful, and the movies worse. But my travel companion (Jenn Ward) didn’t barf on me, and I enjoyed meeting Pedro Cibulka (yes, THE Pedro from Spruce Meadows) and eventer Kyle Carter’s dad Gary, who periodically walked laps of the aisles to fend off thrombosis. We were fast tracked through accreditation and immigration by charming volunteers at the airport, and within two hours of landing, were enjoying a beer with our fellow journalists from around the world at a Welcome Reception in the media hotel. So far, so perfect. The only thing the riders seem to have complained about is the jumbo screen in the stadium, at which Satchmo and a few others have expressed varying degrees of horror.

On for today: the xc course walk (the course has apparently been shortened to under 4 km), eventers’ first vet inspection and opening ceremonies, which will be broadcast live for us in the Parade Ring at Sha Tin racecourse. And of course more parties thrown for us by our wonderful hosts. Canada has unfortunately drawn early in the order of go, as the fourth of 24 nations. I guess I really will have to be at the dressage at 0630 tomorrow.

Today’s blog-blog

Cam Cole at the Vancouver Sun wrote a great little piece on one of the fastest-disappearing items on Beijing menus; if you enjoy a little canine humour, look up the Beijing Bound page at the Sun’s website:

http://communities.canada.com/vancouversun/blogs/blogsfrombeijing/default.aspx

Daphne Bramham is staying way on top of the equestrian news on that blog as well, so it’s worth checking out.

Here are some photos of me showing off my Olympic spirit by modeling the Canadian uniform.

Flight to Beijing-$1500             Showing your Olympic pride
                                                                  by wearing your countries uniform....

Priceless

Zoooooooom!

Today I’m off to the great little city of Hong Kong! This may be my second OG, but I’m sure I wasn’t quite this excited before Athens – partly because I didn’t know last time how great it would be, and partly because the hype-hype-hype for Hong Kong has been impossible to ignore. If I see one more photo of horses being unloaded from a plane I’m going to scream.

Here are some things I can’t wait to see when I get to HK: those Canadian uniforms that weren’t, ahem, manufactured in Canada – especially the pants, which from the video I watched on youtube look like someone vomited on them after chili and strawberry Margaritas. It will be interesting to see who actually wears what have been described as pajama bottoms. Our horses, on the other hand, are happily sporting Canadian-made SnugRugz outfits.

I also can’t wait to see Mark Todd in the flesh, well what flesh the man has on his spare frame. After watching course builder Dave Evans carving dragons out of logs in March, I am eager to see the artistry in action, when I walk the cross country course on Friday, and then watch the world’s finest equine athletes jump it on Monday.

And of course I can’t wait for the dressage! What a race it’s going to be. I predict photo finishes for gold and silver in team and individual competition, as well as for individual bronze. Can’t wait to see Satchmo’s trot half-pass again (the goose bumps lasted days in Aachen), Balagur’s piaffe for the first time live, and Pop Art’s world’s-happiest-dressage-athlete way of going. For those of you who have read my past blogs from Rio and the Global Forum – fear not. I will still be putting my honest opinion out there when the scores start flying.

I am also just beside myself with anticipation at the likelihood that a couple of my very own freestyle creations will go under the bright lights in the freestyle final.

Some of my very favourite show jumping horses are going to be in HK, if they ever get to land that is. It wasn’t quite a typhoon that hit yesterday, but it was enough to keep some flights from arriving. 24 show jumping horses have apparently been quite literally receiving royal treatment at their impromptu stopover in Dubai – at the stables of Princess Haya’s husband Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. So far my flight looks undelayed on the YVR website and the weather has settled down enough that the eventers tested out the great drainage of the main arena last night with a show jumping practice.

Gotta fly now. Check in again tomorrow and I’ll have news from the other side of the Pacific.

Welcome to the Hog Blog!

In exactly one week I will be arriving in Hong Kong, no doubt a bit bleary eyed from the flight, but in time for the cross country course walk, eventing vet inspection and whatever opening ceremonies are deemed not-too-wonderful to overshadow the official opening in Beijing. Mine is just one of many, many blogs that you can find on line over the next several weeks, though of course I’d like to think you are currently reading the best of the bunch. EVERYONE is blogging these games. There has never been more hype or anticipation since I began covering major championships. I think the Hong Kong organizers turned a potential problem to their advantage, with never-ending press releases about weather web sites (yes they have a dedicated web site to give up-to-the-minute details on weather at both Sha Tin and the cross country venue at Beas River), a 37 million Hong Kong dollar (roughly $5 million US or Cdn) horse waste disposal system, and an announcement that Sha Tin’s 100% increase in air pollution earlier this week had no adverse effects on the horses. The equestrian world is in a lather of expectation of a great event….instead of dread about heat and humidity. In addition to all the official media out there, both the Canadian dressage chef d’equipe Ali Buchanan and Canadian Equestrian Team Leader Mike Gallagher have been sending daily missives to everyone on their email lists. Which leads me to my explanation of the name of this blog.


A few months ago the media received a set of blogging guidelines from the IOC. Since blogging is so new, the guidelines are unprecedented. They are also very strict. And a little bit confusing. Mike Gallagher initially believed he was not allowed to put up a blog, and for some reason said it must be to protect the accredited media. Huh Mike? But he has apparently been disabused of that notion because eventingnews.com has put his emails up as a blog. If I am a naughty girl and dare to say anything negative on this blog, I could lose my accreditation and be sent home. That’s more than a talking-to, or even a spanking. So I decided to be extra careful. Nowhere in my blog will you read the magic “O” word. No, not that “O” word, the one that names the greatest athletic show on earth. Instead I came up with the acronym HOG. The “H” is for Hong Kong, and the “O” and “G” are for that other name that shan’t be sullied here.


Not that I plan to do any sullying. I too am in an absolute lather of anticipation for these O…oops I almost wrote it. Check in here over the next days as I pack my bag – lots of sunscreen, no socks – and head to Hong Kong for what is sure to be the best equestrian event ever run, and a thrilling battle for medals in all three disciplines.

Joi gin!

Hong Kong: Homeward Bound

Yesterday was our horse-free day. We were treated like the VIPs most of us definitely feel we aren’t, being whisked past line ups to see the many wonders of Ocean Park. For me it was all about the pandas, which put on a great show while we were there. Their play put to rest any suspicion that they are the sad little Eeyores their eye patches lead some of us to think. We spent the afternoon and some dollars at Stanley Market; before quitting for the day we knocked off one more tourist ‘must’ and checked out the view from the Peak. Fog and haziness are common enough up there that an enterprising young photographer stationed at the viewing platform offers to take your picture and then superimpose you onto a photo of the panorama taken on a clear day or night. We finished up with one more sociable dinner, this time at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club. Hong Kong may no longer belong to Britain, but many of the habits and influences of those days remain very much alive. It’s one of the many characteristics that make it a fascinating place – physically, historically and culturally.

Today our group will scatter back to our homes, several of us to continue the hunt for information about spectator tickets for our respective countries. The company responsible for ticket sales for all events (not just equestrian) in Canada has not bothered responding to my email from several days ago. According to their website, all tickets for all events in Beijing are sold out. I don’t know about the other sports, but I am certain the eventing dressage is not sold out. It never sells out. The ticketing problem is the one thing that could stand in the way of complete success this summer, and unfortunately for the team of organizers here in Hong Kong, there seems to be little they can do about it, since it is out of their hands.

Any tickets allocated to foreign countries that don’t sell by a certain date will return to Hong Kong for local sales. There has been a huge initiative to raise interest in equestrian sports among the local population; I don’t think a host city of any major equestrian championship has ever invested so much in promoting the sport to its population. Horses are everywhere here, and not just in a specifically Olympic way; yesterday in a shop I saw a jumper on an advertisement for feminine sanitary products. I don’t doubt the stands will be full, at least on medal days, no matter how unavailable tickets are to people around the world. (If you are reading this and you have successfully procured tickets to the equestrian events, please get in touch with me – I would like to know how and when you managed it.) But it sure would be nice if the teams had some good cheering sections from their own countries.

So home again, home again, jiggity-jig. A big thanks and bigger tip of the hat to our hosts here in the land of vertical growth. It’s been a great week and I can’t wait to come back. Watch this space, and join me again in August, when I will return to this unique and vibrant city for the equestrian events of the 2008 Olympic Games (oops, I mentioned it).