No Olympic guarantees for Bertram Allen

The criteria for the selection of the show jumper to represent Ireland at the Olympics has been published and contains no reference to special consideration for the rider who won the place for Ireland, in this case Bertram Allen.

Allen secured the ticket to Rio for Ireland by topping the North Western Europe group and, in this column last week, he said “definitely” this would help his chances of being selected by manager Robert Splaine for the Olympics.

While his opinion is not supported in HSI selection policy, he was adamant this week his success in winning the place would remain a determinant as to who will travel to Rio.