South African equestrian Victoria Scott-Legendre almost did not make it to the Tokyo Olympics, not because of a lack of talent, but money.
The Olympic organizers pay for flying in the hundreds of horses competing in the Games. But in the Games’ most expensive sport, it’s up to the athletes to cough up the money for grooms, animal feed, airport accommodation and vets for the horses.
“Our sports federation and our equestrian federation can’t afford to give too much to the sport like some of the other federations do, so of course it’s a huge expense for us personally to get here,” the 32-year-old said.
In the end, she took the reins to get to Tokyo in an unconventional way. She cut back her team to one coach and one groom and did not bring a vet.
She also resorted to crowdfunding.
“We were really, really stressed about it and someone proposed to us to do a GoFundMe,” Scott-Legendre said. “We proposed 8,000 euros ($9,455) and we actually got there with worldwide support.”
