大象传媒

Arguably the most interesting equestrian story in the run-up to the Games involves Japanese dressage rider

Hoketsu made his first, and only, Olympic appearance to date at the Tokyo Games in 1964 but he has earned an incredible recall to the team for the Beijing Olympics at the age of 66.

Hoketsu has not competed on the Olympic stage since he finished 40th at the Tokyo Games in 1964, although he did have a chance to compete at the Seoul Olympics in 1988, but pulled out due to quarrantine issues.

And by the time the Games start, Hoketsu will be 67. making him the oldest Japanese Olympian.

Has any other competitor had such a gap between appearances? I reckon not, unless you know any different?

On the home front, Team GB has done reasonably well in equestrian events since won team eventing bronze at the 1936 Olympics.

Of the 15 Games since, 11 have yielded a total of 24 medals, the most successful being the 1972 Munich Games which saw Britain win two golds and a silver.

, riding Laurieston, was the hero of the eventing team winning individual gold and the top team prize along with Mark Phillips, Mary Gordon-Watson and Bridget Parker.

In Athens, on Shear L'Eau won Britain's first gold medal since 1972, while Pippa Funnell finished third in the individual competition.

And in Beijing, hopes are high of further medals as Zara Phillips (pictured above) looks to emulate her father, .

Phillips, the Queen's granddaughter, has already followed in the footsteps of her mother, Princess Anne, in winning European gold.

She then won world gold in 2006 and leads a team of five to the event which will be held in .

It's unlikely that Hoketsu will medal in Beijing, but will Britian continue to add to their medal tally?