Alex Hua Tian

Alex Hua Tian and ESB Irish Fiddle at the Trout Hatchery during the cross-country phase of Burghley Horse Trials 2010.

Family name is Hua; Alex's father's name is "Hua Shan".

This is a Chinese name; the family name is Hua.

Alex Hua Tian (simplified Chinese: 华天; traditional Chinese: 華天; pinyin: Huá Tiān; Jyutping: Waa⁴ Tin¹; born October 25, 1989 in London, England, United Kingdom) is an Olympic equestrian sportsman for China.

He was born in London to a Chinese father and a British mother, and has a brother, called Jamie Hua Ming. Alex started riding aged four while living in Beijing and later Hong Kong. His family moved to Wiltshire when he was 11 where Alex went to Chafyn Grove School followed by Eton College.

He is the only Chinese event rider competing internationally. Alex took a year out of his studies at Eton to prepare for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. He qualified four horses between October 2007 and May 2008. Although as a host nation competitor he only needed to achieve a minimum standard, he qualified in his own right through the rankings as the youngest ever Olympic event rider. In mid-2008 he achieved a ranking of 21st in the world.

He was coached by the former world champion Clayton Fredericks and his wife Lucinda Fredericks, who won the Burghley Horse Trials 2006 and Badminton Horse Trials 2007, at their base in Wiltshire, and by Jane Gregory, British Olympic Dressage Team 1996 and 2008.

Having returned to Eton to complete his studies, Alex won a place at Bristol University to study Aerotechnology Engineering, which he postponed for three years to concentrate on working toward competing in London 2012. At Blenheim International Horse Trials 2009 Alex won the Best under-25 Prize and qualified for the World Equestrian Games in Lexington, September 2010. In November 2009, Alex won the inaugural HSBC Rising Star Award, presented to him in Copenhagen by Princess Haya, President of the International Equestrian Federation at the 'Oscars of Equestrian Sport'.

See also

• China at the 2008 Summer Olympics

References

• Eton schoolboy holds Chinese Olympic dream Sunday Telegraph, 10 September 2007
• Alex Hua Tian saddled with hopes of the host nation at Olympic Games Matthew Pinsent, The Times, August 2, 2008
• Olympics Equestrian Hopes dashed, Hua Tian plots for London Reuters, Aug 12 2008
• China's medal hopes rest on youngster Universal Sports (Reuters), 30 July 2008
• China's Olympic equestrian team to be led by Eton schoolboy. Reuters TV report, 30 July 2008
• Alex Hua Tian from China rides Chico USA Today, Aug 9th 2008
• Beijing 2008 Olympic Profile

External links

• Official website
• Alex Hua Tian saddles up for date with destiny China Daily, March 3, 2008
• Alex Hua Tian CCTV5 short documentary
• Eton schoolboy gallops toward Beijing Games China Daily, Aug 22 2007
• Team China 2008 Press Photos Photo Collection
• China's Olympic riding hope is Eton schoolboy The Observer, May 4, 2008
• A Horse of a Different Colour Wall Street Journal, August 11, 2008