Cheer for Hiroshi? Everyone Will!

In a few hours, one of the equestrian games' best stories will trot into the main arena and the stands will erupt in cheers.

Hoketsu Hiroshi, the 67-year-old dressage rider from Japan, will be making his Olympic comeback 44 years after his first participation in the Olympics in Tokyo back in 1964. Previously a competitor in show jumping, Hoketsu now trains and competes in dressage. The Japanese rider won five national championships between 1988 and 1992 and qualified for the Olympics in Seoul before having to drop out when his horse failed the quarantine exam.

But let's hear it for second chances. If a German dentist can win the gold medal in eventing, how about a retired Japanese pharmaceutical company director medalling in dressage?

A source of inspiration for retirees (and anyone who is young at heart), Hoketsu will have to look to London and beyond if he wants to pass the record for oldest Olympian -- Oscar Swahn competed in the 1920 Olympics in Belgium at the age of 72.