British Equestrian Federation recognises equestrian achievements at Olympia
Showjumper William Funnell and vaulter Hannah Eccles have both been presented with the British Equestrian Federation (BEF) Medal of Honour.
William was instrumental in helping Britain secure team gold at the European Championships in Denmark earlier this year. Last week he was one of only 3 senior British riders to win at Olympia, taking the H&M Mistletoe Stakes.
Hannah is a stalwart member of the British vaulting squad and has competed at both junior and senior level individually, in team and pas de deux competitions. She won her 4th consecutive European silver medal with her sister Joanne this summer.
The duo were joined by world class performance manager for showjumping Rob Hoekstra and director of Olympia Simon Brooks-Ward, who were recognised for their roles within equestrian sport.
Rob has been performance manager since 2010 and has now seen the squad through 4 senior championships —including team gold at the London 2012 Olympics and 2013 European Championships.
Simon, who is chief executive of the HPower Group, is behind the growth and organisation of many events in the UK. As well as being the director of the International Horse Show at Olympia he was also director of the 2009 FEI European jumping and dressage championships and the Royal Windsor Horse Show.
BEF chairman Keith Taylor presented the medals at a ceremony on Sunday 22 December at Olympia.
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Michael Foljambe, who is the estate owner of Osberton has also been awarded a medal. He was unable to attend the ceremony so he received his award at beginning of December from British Eventing’s chief executive Mike Etherington-Smith.
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Sophia Heath joined Horse & Hound in July 2013 having previously worked for the Daily Telegraph's Olympics website, CNN International and Omnisport. A Durham graduate with a Masters in journalism from City University, Sophia has evented, showjumped and hunted. Sophia left Horse & Hound in early 2015 to join an international boating website.