Olympic dreams - Boxers show how it should be done

THE fact that we have been here before — when Cian O’Connor was stripped of a gold medal in Athens four years ago because his horse tested positive for a banned sedative — does not make it any easier to accept the disappointment that another Irish horseman has been disqualified from the Olympics.

Though the ban is provisional it removed an Irish competitor from an Olympic final. Heartbreak on the cusp of realising an achievement that, despite everything, remains an ambition for every serious sportsperson in the world.

Tipperary’s Denis Lynch is one of four riders who were to take part in yesterday’s final in Hong Kong but could not do so because they were provisionally suspended by the Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI) after doping/medication tests indicated a quantity of capsaicin in each horse.

Capsaicin can be used to enhance an animal’s physical sensitivity — to make an exposed point on the body especially tender — and if applied to a horse’s legs it will exaggerate the pain felt if a jump is struck, thereby encouraging the animal to keep its legs clear of the obstacles. It is used to coerce an animal through pain.

Though it is disappointing it should be pointed out that the suspension is provisional and that there is an extraordinary degree of coincidence in the fact that four finalists — Denis Lynch; Norway’s Tony Andre Hansen; Germany’s Christian Ahlmann; and Brazilian Bernado Alves — were all provisionally found to have used capsaicin.

That nearly 10% of Olympic finalists were suspended because a banned substance was found on their animals during the latter stages of a heavily scrutinised competition beggars belief. However, the FEI has expressed every confidence in its procedures.

It would be very disheartening if these suspensions were confirmed but until they are there is a glimmer of hope that an error has been made.

If they are confirmed it would put showjumping on a par with those shabby, drug-ridden, money-driven sports that have lost all attraction and credibility. It would be doubly disappointing if a second Irishman was found guilty of this kind of abuse. It would also be a significant blow to the Irish sport horse industry, an industry encouraged with grants and tax breaks.

Thankfully, there is far more than a glimmer of hope surrounding our boxers.

Already Paddy Barnes, Kenny Egan and Darren Sutherland have secured bronze medals and have the prospect, in the next few hours, of improving on that. Three of the five fighters we sent to the Games have won medals and when the analysis of how other sports performed comes to be done that will be an unavoidable benchmark, a standard other disciplines will have to judge themselves by.

If there is a story at the Beijing Games that better illustrates determination, courage and the human will to succeed than Darren Sutherland’s, it must be a truly amazing one. At 15 he left school and joined a professional boxing school.

Less than four years later, disillusioned and without prospects, he returned to Ireland and put on a uniform and went back to school. He got his Leaving Certificate, went to college and in time graduated. Then he had to overcome a career-threatening eye injury.

Now he’s an Olympic medallist. Darren prevailed and has done himself, his family and his country proud.

This weekend he, and Paddy Barnes and Kenny Egan, have a chance to go a step further. They carry with them the best wishes of a country disappointed that it has been embroiled in another scandal involving our equestrian team.