Teenage showjumper from South Yorkshire eyes up The Olympics

The 17-year-old has been riding since the age of three, competing since she was seven and even jumped at Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) when she was just eight years old.

Alena was home-schooled to help her focus more on showjumping, having first represented Great Britain at 11.

Even now, the daily routine consists of mucking out and yard work before breakfast. After that, Alena rides and trains in the showjumping arena she has at home and in the evenings she goes to the gym.

Alena’s mum Victoria, who also represented her county in equestrian as a junior, added: “It's a very proud moment. All the hard work is starting to pay off.”

Following a successful trial in January, Alena has now joined the two-year Podium Potential Pathway programme, which supports and develops younger athletes who demonstrate the capability to be part of a senior championship team in the future.

Funded by UK Sport and Sport England, the programme provides selected athletes with support and education designed to further develop the performance foundation skills required for them to take the next step towards the podium.

Athletes are selected onto the programme for a two-year cycle and can remain on the programme, subject to re-selection, for a maximum of four years.

Last week, Alena and the other selected athletes were invited to an induction day at British Equestrian’s head office at Abbey Park near Kenilworth.

The day provided them with more information about what the programme can offer and an opportunity to meet members of the World Class Programme staff, including their discipline coach mentors, plus an introduction to the British Elite Athletes Association. They were also issued with their programme kit from British Equestrian team suppliers Toggi.

Alena who has five horses at the moment told Country Post: “I was very surprised, I did not really think I would get picked but I am very glad to get this.”

Despite just being 17, Alena has spent time in America with showjumping coach Helena Stormanns, where she achieved several wins, and became Reserve Champion and has also benefitted from valuable knowledge and training with Olympian Michael Whitaker.

One day, she hopes to be one herself. She said: “The dream would be to be in the Olympics, that is definitely there. There is one next year, that would take a bit of getting to but the one after hopefully is possible. I really want to do the Globals. I have done a few and really like them.”

Also speaking at the induction day was Jesse Dufton, a member of the GB Paraclimbing team and star of the internationally acclaimed documentary, Climbing Blind.

When not working in the clean energy sector, Jesse spends his spare time free-climbing some of the most challenging rock faces in the world – a feat made even more impressive due to his lack of sight. His talk touched on managing the mental demands of high performance, not letting adversity stop you from doing what you enjoy, and how even the narrowest of handholds brings you closer towards achieving your goal.

Following the event, David Hamer, head of performance pathways at British Equestrian, said: “The athletes joining the programme really impressed us during the selection process. The standard continues to improve.

“We encourage this new intake to spend the next two years taking advantage of all the resource and expertise that are now available to them through the World Class Programme, so they can maximise their potential and improve their performances.

“We will also help them to develop a career in sport and hopefully, in the near future, see them progress to the next level in British Equestrian’s structured performance pathway and ride on the senior championship team.”

Podium Potential Pathway athletes have access to top equestrian sport specialists and coaches and technical skills and knowledge are backed up by an elite sport science team in areas of biomechanics, human and equine physiotherapy, sport psychology, strength and conditioning, human and equine nutrition, vet and farrier support, and saddler fitting advice.

Athletes also receive guidance on managing themselves, their careers, and finances.