(Olympic news)Tokyo, Jul 29 Indian equestrian Fouaad Mirza’s equine partner ‘Seigneur Medicott’ was on Thursday certified as “sound in health” and fulfilling in necessary criteria to begin Tokyo Olympics action on Friday.

The judging committee cleared Mirza's horse for the eventing event which is scheduled between Friday and Monday.

“Seigneur Medicott was certified as sound in health and has fulfilled the necessary criteria as per the judging committee," said a statement issued by the Embassy Group, which is backing Mirza.

"With the completion of the horse inspection round, Mirza and ‘Seigneur Medicott’ will be participating in the upcoming events scheduled between July 30 and August 2.” The inspection round is conducted before any equestrian event by a judging committee to ensure that the horse is fit to participate in upcoming competitions.

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Horses are presented for inspection to the judges who then walk with the equine to make sure it is not lame and has no injuries. If any injuries exist, the horse is eliminated from participating in future competitions.

In cases of doubt, the horse is sent to a holding box for further inspection and called to examine further.

Earlier, barely days before the Tokyo Olympics, Mirza had decided to change his horse, preferring to go with Seigneur Medicott, which helped him win two silver medals at the 2018 Asian Games, as his equine partner.

Mirza had first announced that he would take his horse 'Dajara 4' to the Tokyo Games but later changed his decision. 

News source : PTI