Septuagenarian Hiroshi Hoketsu seems to be enjoying his time in London. "So what?", we hear you cry. "Another slow-moving elderly tourist blocking our Tube exits and documenting every insignificant second of his trip with his unnecessarily professional camera? Who cares?" Well, he isn't, and you should. Because Hoketsu-san is COMPETING AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES.
Let's try to put that in context. You probably know someone older than 50, right? Are they competing at the Olympics? ARE THEY?! No. They're not. And if either you or they think they are, stop reading this and seek professional help.
Let's try to put that in context a bit better and with a little less shouting. Hiroshi Hoketsu first competed at the Olympics in Tokyo in 1964, finishing 40th in showjumping. He finished ninth in team dressage and 35th in individual dressage as the oldest competitor at Beijing 2008. When he first competed at the Olympics, we hadn't landed on the moon or invented the internet. When he first competed at the Olympics, Roy Orbison's "Oh, Pretty Woman" topped the charts and there were only two Bond films. When he first competed at the Olympics, Elvis was thin. And alive.
Taking part in the individual dressage on Saturday - not as a novelty, not out of pity or sympathy, but having qualified by right - Hoketsu-san and his horse Whisper apparently finished a very respectable 17th out of 25. We say "apparently" because dressage is far too boring for owls to watch safely. Still, if he competes again in Rio, he'll break a record set in 1920 and become the oldest Olympian ever. If he achieves that feat at the frankly inconceivable age of 75, we hope you'll join us in quietly raising a warm ceramic cup of sake in his honour. Kampai.
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