The most thrilling athlete in Tokyo is Mopsi, the dressage horse who dances to club bangers

Tyler Lauletta
Updated ·2 min read
The most thrilling athlete in Tokyo is Mopsi, the dressage horse who dances to club bangers

  • The Tokyo Games have their newest star: Mopsi, the horse.

  • Mopsi competed in dressage, dancing fiercely to the beat and thrilling fans around the world.

  • Everyone loves Mopsi, the horse.

  • Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

The Tokyo Olympics have been full of unbelievable moments of sportsmanship, humanity, and calamity.

Star athletes have made their countries proud, pushing themselves to the brink of human possibility to take home gold.

But one athlete has emerged whose star power overcomes creed or country, whose grace and excellence can be appreciated by anyone and everyone, no matter their attachment to sport.

Meet Mopsi, the dressage horse.

US's Steffen Peters, walks with Suppenkasper, nicknamed Mopsi.
Peters and Mopsi. AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster

Known by a nickname - his real name is Suppenkasper - Mopsi is the dressage horse of the American rider Steffen Peters.

Mopsi trotted into the hearts of millions with his astounding performance in the dressage grand-prix freestyle individual final on Wednesday.

While you might expect a horse to dance to something classical, Mopsi instead chose to bring the party to Tokyo.

Mopsi's routine was not a slam dunk with the judges, who gave our beloved gelding a score of 80.968, good for 10th place.

But despite the judges' scores, Mopsi was a hit on the internet.

Mopsi's rider, Peters, has embraced idea of putting on a show for fans who may not be familiar with dressage.

Peters, 56, became the oldest US Olympian to medal since 1952 when he and Mopsi took silver as part of a team competition last Tuesday, but in a previous life he was a DJ. According to Yahoo Sports, Peters' past routines have included dancing with Mopsi to David Bowie, Queen, and Kanye West.

"There's always a different taste," Peters told Yahoo Sports. "Sometimes the dramatic music and the quieter, more emotional music is popular. Personally I like the upbeat dance music. If we have a party tonight, that's the music I'd be dancing to. And that's what I wanted to bring into the freestyle."

Rage on, rave horse.

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