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Olympic equestrian Yoshiaki Oiwa took a selfie with his horse after winning a bronze medal in the equestrian team event.
After the Japanese team celebrated their equestrian team’s bronze medal win, which included Ryuzo Kitajima, Kazuma Tomoto, Toshiyuki Tanaka, and Oiwa, the latter celebrated the win by posing for a cute selfie with his horse, MGH Grafton Street. On August 1, the selfie went viral on X, formerly known as Twitter, and showed Oiwa smiling broadly as she held her bronze medal alongside MGH Grafton Street, who adorably appeared to be sticking his tongue out a bit.
In the comments section, many public figures and regular internet users reacted to the photo, praising it as one of the best Olympic snaps. NBC Washington's Haleigh Hoffman wrote: “Best selfie of the Olympics.”
The NBC Olympics & Paralympics X account also shared the snapshot, with the caption: “A man, a medal and his horse.”
Underneath the post, one user wrote: “All horse races and events should include selfie photos with the winning horse.”
“He deserves a selfie congratulations,” added another, while someone else suggested: “All horse races and events should include selfie photos with the winning horse.”
Oiwa and the Japanese team’s bronze medal win at the 2024 Paris Olympics is notably the country’s first equestrian medal in 92 years, dating back to 1932. According to the Associated Press, the last person to win an equestrian medal for the country was Takeichi Nishi, the son of a baron known for frequenting the Hollywood social scene, who won the gold medal that year in individual show jumping at the Los Angeles Games.
The adorable post-victory selfie wasn’t the only one she took, as on July 31, she shared another one where she posed with her teammates Kitajima, Tomoto, and Tanaka instead of her trusty furry companion. Together, the four celebrated their victory by sporting their medals and posing in front of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. Not only that, but Oiwa also shared a sweet behind-the-scenes video of how they loaded the MGH Grafton Street into their truck after a successful day at the Olympics.
Princess Anne, the 73-year-old sister of King Charles III of England, presented the riders with their bronze medals, having previously competed in eventing at the 1976 Olympics. The royal's daughter, equestrian Zara Tindall, won silver in team eventing at the 2012 London Olympics.
