Equestrian Nina Lamsam Ligon's dream of qualifying for the Olympics has become true and now she is aiming to win a medal at London.
Nina Lamsam Ligon will compete in the eventing in London. PHOTO WWW.NINALIGO.COM
The qualification took an entire year from April 2011 to March 2012. With her outstanding results in major international competitions, she received the official notification of having won an Olympic spot in March.
Holding dual US and Thai citizenship, Nina, now 20, chose to represent Thailand when she was 16. She will compete in the eventing at the 2012 Olympics.
She has been competing and training in England since April. Going to London early has allowed her and her hosres to settle in both mentally and physically.
"England has the most intensely competitive events in the world, and even small events attract lots of great riders, and lots of cheering spectators," she said.
"This is giving both me and the horses more good practice for the sort of intensely active environment we will face at the Olympics. I got a taste of that environment when I rode at the Olympic Test Event last year ... but the more exposure we have, the better chance we have to ignore the pressure and perform our best."
She is training with four horses _ Butts Leon, Jazz King, Tipperary Liadhnan and Fernhill Fearless, and will pick the best one for the Olympics.
Nina said qualifying for the Olympics was a childhood dream come true. Her most memorable highlights include receiving the 2011 FEI HSBC Rising Star Award as the top young equestrian in any discipline worldwide, and to capture the team and invididual gold medals at the 2007 SEA Games in Nakhon Ratchasima.
Nina became both the youngest rider and the first woman to win an individual equestrian gold medal for Thailand at the SEA Games.
At the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, Nina led the Thai team to win a silver and was fourth in the individual event.
Nina and her teammate Terri Impson became the first women ever to win the eventing medal at the Asian Games.
Nina has two main goals for the London Olympics: First, to stay calm, keep her horse calm and give their best possible performance, and second, to finish in the top third of riders after the first three events, thus being allowed to proceed to the final "jump off" round for the medals, something that very few Asian riders have ever achieved.
Lifters get luxurious treatment
Thailand's seven weightlifters will fly in business class to London, Intarat Yodbangtoey, president of the Thai Amateur Weightlifting Association said yesterday.
"We want them to get a full rest when they travel to London," said Gen Intarat.
"Their knees could get injured if they sit in a small place for a long time. So we decided to spend more and upgrade their seats from economy class to business class."
The athletes will also enjoy their favourite dishes before they compete in London including rice with fried pork or chicken with basil, omelette, green curry with pork, panaeng curry with pork, and tofu soup.