Kim Hyung-chil of South Korea fell at the eighth obstacle on cross-country at the 15th Asian Games in Doha, Qatar on Dec. 7 and was fatally injured. He and his mount, 12-year-old Bundaberg Black, hit the fence and somersaulted, whereupon Hyung-chil was crushed beneath his horse. He was 47.

Hyung-chil was an experienced eventer who was on the silver-medal team at the Asian Games in Busan, Korea in 2002. He came from a well-known equestrian family. His father Kim Chul-gyu competed in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and popularized equestrian sports in Korea.

Hyung-chil was the 11th rider to go on course. Fence 8 measured 1.08 meters and was one of the smallest fences on the course. Hyung-chil suffered severe head, neck and chest injuries and never regained consciousness after his fall. The horse received minor injuries.

A report from the technical delegate for eventing, Andrew Griffiths (GBR), who reported with Oliver Holberg (Germany), the technical footing expert appointed by the organizing committee and the Fédération Equestre Internationale, included information about the footing, fence and the weather.

“The horse approached the obstacle and essentially got too close to the jump before taking off, resulting in a somersault type of fall with the full weight of the horse landing on top of the rider on the other side of the fence,” said the report.

Hyung-chil leaves behind a wife and two children.