Sumo scare? Riders say horses might be spooked by statue at Tokyo Olympics
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Published: Aug. 3, 2021 at 12:24 PM EDT
KAMIYOGA, Japan (AP) — Riders say that a life-sized sumo wrestler positioned next to an obstacle on the Olympic equestrian course may have distracted several horses in qualifying for the individual jumping final.
A few pairings pulled up short of the barrier, accumulating enough penalty points to prevent entry into Wednesday’s finals.
The statue is positioned to the left of a jump placed in the corner of the arena.
Hunched over and seemingly ready to attack, the wrestler is facing away from approaching riders, meaning that when they complete a sharp turn to take on the jump, the first thing horse and human see is the wedgie created by the wrestler’s mawashi.
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