Equestrian Sport News: Five months after Cian O'Connor's historic victory in Athens, Irish show jumping supporters are still awaiting the outcome of the positive dope test on Olympic gold medal horse Waterford Crystal.
But the equestrian world has been rocked by another doping controversy that saw a gold medallist being left out of the medal ceremony.
Last week's world endurance championships in Dubai, which earned a place in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest ever equestrian gathering, wound up with a gala dinner on Saturday night at which the medals were to be presented. But the UAE's Sheikh Hazza bin Sultan al Nahyan, who completed the 160-kilometre race in a record seven hours and three minutes for victory, was told only moments before the ceremony he wouldn't be getting gold.
The event's organising committee said his horse, Hachim, had tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug and, despite international regulations allowing for confirmatory analysis on the B sample, the medal was withdrawn from the winner.
Dr Bo Helander, secretary general of the International Equestrian Federation (FEI), presented the gold to Frenchwoman Barbara Lissarague, with the Crown Prince of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum promoted to silver.
The FEI yesterday requested an official explanation, stating that the organising committee had no right to deal with the case and that the original results would stand until further notice.
"The medication control programme takes a long, long time," Dr Hallvard Sommerseth, head of the FEI endurance committee, said yesterday, "but this has been a little too quick. Everyone is innocent until the opposite is proven. The horse world would love to have shorter procedures, but this short-cut was a bit too short."
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