Today, Saturday, July 17, Tatiana celebrates her birthday in the Olympic Village in Tokyo with her Russian teammembers. The accommodation of the horses and the people are excellent. The atmosphere is also excellent.
The Russian equestrian team in Tokyo: Aleksandra Korelowa, Aleksandra Maksakova, Inessa Merkulova and Tatiana Kosterina arrived in Tokyo.
Tatiana and Divolessa were on the second flight from Liège to Tokyo. 36 horses for eight nations were accommodated in the cargo plane. They were accompanied by 8 caregivers and a veterinarian. Tatiana was there and was responsible for the four Russian horses.
The flight took about 15 hours in total. The plane made a stopover for refueling in Dubai. The horses were not unloaded there, were fed in the machine. They always had water and hay in their boxes. The attendants had permanent access to the boxes and were able to take care of each individual horse.
Once in Tokyo, they were immediately driven to their comfortable stables on the competition grounds. There they have air-conditioned boxes at their disposal all the time. In the stables it is 18 degrees warm, outside it is 30 degrees during the day. The humidity is well tolerated. In each stall alley hot and cold water is available for the horses to shower. The grooms are accommodated on the first floor above the stables and thus have only short distances. Alina Wippich, Dia's groom, has also arrived in the meantime and takes care of her protégé.
The mood in the team is very good. Can you recognize the athletes?
The sports facilities are exceptional. There are excellent clay courts. The ground is excellent, the stadium impressive. Too bad that no spectators are allowed. Dia went for a walk after her arrival. She got used to the new environment well. Today the first training under the rider is announced.
The athletes are accommodated in the Olympic Village. This is about 50 minutes from the equestrian stadium. Also there the accommodation is excellent. In particular, good food is valued there. The canteen offers several national cuisines. Visitors can choose from a rich offer. The mood in the Russian team is very good. You know each other better and better, experience the exciting preparations for the competitions together and make positive joint experiences.
In Aachen, the athletes had noticed the precursors of the rain disaster. At the last training Tatiana and Dia got soaking wet. Even when the company Johannsmann, our neighbors from Steinhagen/Bielefeld, drove up with their trucks on the premises of the Aachen Soers for loading, the rain had already begun. The transfer to the airport in Liège and the loading of the horses went without a hitch. After her trips to Tryon, Moscow and Doha, Dia has become a seasoned frequent flyer. She now knows the aircraft boxes quite well. For this long flight to Tokyo, the boxes had once again been set much larger.
