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 elephant in a room full of horses at the Games' most expensive sport.
The Olympic organizers pay to fly in the hundreds of horses competing in the Games, but it's up to the athletes to cough up the money for grooms, animal feed, airport accommodation and veterinarians 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.
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