Olympic equestrian takes adorable selfie with horse after bronze medal win

‘A man, a medal and his horse’

Yoshiaki Oiwa interacts with horse MGH Grafton Street of Team Japan at the 2024 Paris Olympics (Getty Images)

Olympic equestrian Yoshiaki Oiwa took a selfie with his horse after winning a bronze medal in equestrian team eventing.

After Team Japan celebrated their bronze medal win for their equestrian team, including Ryuzo Kitajima, Kazuma Tomoto, Toshiyuki Tanaka, and Oiwa, the latter celebrated the victory by posing for a sweet selfie with his horse, MGH Grafton Street. On August 1, the selfie went viral on X, formerly known as Twitter, showing Oiwa smiling wide as he held up his bronze medal next to MGH Grafton Street, who adorably seemed to stick out his tongue slightly.

In the comment section, many public figures and regular internet users reacted to the photo, commending it as one of the best Olympic snaps. Haleigh Hoffman ofNBC Washington wrote, “Best selfie of the Olympics.”

The NBC Olympics & Paralympics X account shared the snap, too, with the caption: “A man, a medal and his horse.”

Below the post, one user wrote: “All horse races/events should feature selfie pics with the winning horse.”

“He deserves the selfie congratulations,” another added, while someone else suggested: “All horse races/events should feature selfie pics with the winning horse.”

Oiwa and Team Japan’s bronze medal victory at the 2024 Paris Olympics is notably the country’s first equestrian medal in 92 years since 1932. According to the Associated Press, the last person to win an equestrian medal for the country was Takeichi Nishi, a baron’s son known for frequenting Hollywood social scene, who won the gold medal that year for individual jumping at the Los Angeles Games.

The delightful post-win selfie wasn’t the only one he took, having shared another on July 31 posing with teammates Kitajima, Tomoto and Tanaka instead of his faithful furry companion. Together, the four of them celebrated their victory by wearing their medals and posing in front of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. Not only that but Oiwa also shared a sweet video of the behind-the-scenes of getting MGH Grafton Street loaded into his truck after a successful day at the Olympics.

Princess Anne, the 73-year-old sister of Britain’s King Charles III, was the one to award the equestrians their bronze medals, having previously competed in the 1976 Olympic Games in eventing. The royal’s daughter, equestrian Zara Tindall, won silver in team eventing at the 2012 London Olympics.