HRH Princess Haya has been presented with the Prize of the City of Aachen in recognition of her long-standing commitment to equestrian sport. The FEI President received the award at a special ceremony in the main arena at the Aachen CHIO in Germany yesterday.
Presented by the Major of the City of Aachen Marcel Philipp, the award has been given annually since 1995 to personalities who have rendered outstanding services to the CHIO Aachen World Equestrian Festival, the traditional event that hosts upwards of 360,000 spectators on-site to view top equestrian sport.
“This award means a great deal to me both personally and in my role as FEI President,” Princess Haya said at yesterday’s presentation ceremony. “In receiving it I must emphasise that I have achieved nothing alone. Every step forward in equestrian sport made since I became President is the result of teamwork. And the team is very big: it is not only the staff at FEI Headquarters, it is also the FEI Bureau, the discipline committees, the National Federations, the sponsors and event organisers.
“If our sport is continuing to grow in popularity it is because our top athletes are playing a huge role by inspiring young people to become involved in it. But this could not happen without events such as Aachen.”
Aachen hosted the fifth FEI World Equestrian Games™ in 2006, the year HRH Princess Haya became President of the FEI. In 2015, Aachen will host the FEI European Championships in Dressage, Jumping, Vaulting, Driving and Reining, the first time five European Championships have taken place at the same venue.
The first winner of the Prize of the City of Aachen was Helmut Werner, the then Chairman of Daimler-Benz AG, who was presented with the award in 1995.