The Olympic equestrian disciplines of Eventing, Jumping and Dressage made their Olympic debut in Paris 1900 but were absent in 1904 and 1908 before returning in 1912. Equestrian has been a permanent feature of every Olympic Games since. A variety of complex and often controversial factors contribute to the selection of future Olympic Games host cities. Unfortunately, climatic challenges and suitability to successfully host Equestrian events appears to rarely rate a mention. The COVID-19-delayed Tokyo Olympics are scheduled for 23 July to 8 August of this year, placing them in the middle of the heat and humidity of the Japanese Summer. Tokyo regularly experiences temperatures in excess of 41°C (105°F) with human hospitalisations due to heat stroke numbering in the many thousands and deaths frequently 100+ in the months of July and August. The equestrian events of the Tokyo Games will be a challenge for all involved to ensure the health and safety of equine athletes. Tokyo certainly is not the first time that extreme heat and humidity has challenged the viability of Equestrian events at the Olympic Games, and it won't be the last. In the face of global climate change and future Olympics, host cities including Paris 2024 and Los Angeles 2028 both of which regularly experience hazardous heatwaves each summer, managing equine athletes in hot and humid conditions will be something veterinarians will be challenged with for many years to come. It is vital that we learn from the past to ensure the welfare of equine athletes in the future. The aim of this editorial is to highlight the ground-breaking research which followed the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. The accompanying Special Collection ensures that the articles published in EVJ which have contributed to knowledge in this area are readily accessible. This work revolutionised our understanding of managing equine athletes in hot and humid conditions and allowed the successful running of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. In the lead up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, another concerted effort by veterinary researchers again advanced our understanding, and it is on the back of this work that recent literature of equine heat stress and optimisation of cooling methods has been established.
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