Harry Allen named Longines Rising Star at FEI Awards 2017

The apple does not fall far from the tree, as it happened with the youngest of the family Allen, Harry, who received the Longines Rising Star Award at the FEI Awards 2017 gala yesterday evening in Montevideo, Uruguay.The FEI Awards Gala, at its 9th edition this year, presents the winners of five categories: along with the Longines Rising Star Award celebrating the talents of tomorrow, there are also the FEI Best Athlete Award, the FEI Best Groom Award, the FEI solidarity Award and the FEI Against All Odds Award.The 16-year-old Harry Allen, double gold medallist at the FEI European Pony Championships in Kaposvar, Hungary, last August, was recognised for his numerous outstanding performances throughout the year. The talented Irish athlete has impressed just as his older brother Bertram did at the same age for his aptitude for show jumping. Harry has all the qualifications to follow in Bertram’s footsteps, even though he has not made his debut in the top class yet.The FEI Best Groom Award went once again to Britain’s Alan Davies, the ‘guardian angel’ of legendary Valegro.Germany’s Isabell Werth, one of equestrian sports most decorated champions, stole the show, receiving the Best Athlete Award after a great 2017.The FEI Solidarity Award was handed to the former Vice President of the Indian Equestrian Federation, Manoj Jalan, for the inaugural Retraining of Racehorses (ROR) project in Assam, India.The Against All Odds Award has been set up to reward the most determined athlete in facing the most difficult situations. This year it went to Australia’s Emma Booth for her strength, resilience, determination and drive. The 26-year-old was left paralysed after a road traffic accident in April 2013, yet nothing stops her passion for equestrian sport and is already planning her campaign around the FEI World Equestrian Games 2018 and the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.www.fei.orgphoto: Harry Allen (IRL), receives the Longines Rising Star Award, presented by the FEI’s top partner Longines, with Longines’ Vice President and Head of International Marketing Juan-Carlos Capelli in Montevideo (URU)