O’Connor stripped of Olympic gold
In making its decision, the FEI said there had been a breach of its regulations at the Athens Olympic Games “relating to the presence of the prohibited substances of fluphenazine and zuclopenthixol in Waterford Crystal.”
However, crucially, the FEI said it was satisfied “that the show jumper had established that he was not involved in a deliberate attempt to affect the performance of the horse.”
The suspension will begin “30 days after receipt by the Equestrian Federation of Ireland of the full written decision of the Judicial Committee.”
However, following a 12-hour marathon hearing before the FEI Judicial Committee in Zurich, the 25-year-old refused to rule out an appeal to the International Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
It was a rider full of mixed emotions that appeared before the press.
“I am pleased that I have been vindicated of any deliberate wrong-doing, both myself or my vet James Sheeran and of this I am very happy,” said a tired-looking O’Connor, a slight tremor in his voice.
“I would like to say also that I have not knowingly done anything wrong as has been the situation throughout. It’s also a huge disappointment to me, my friends my staff, colleagues and sponsors and, indeed, to the country at the loss of the gold medal.”
In a written statement, he acknowledged that a “technical infraction had resulted in the loss of the gold medal for Ireland.”
Asked if he would be appealing to CAS, he said: “It’s been a long day today, one step at a time.”
It was a compromise that saw the FEI possibly conclude a case that has seen it come under critical focus and allows the Meath-based rider walk with his reputation salvaged.
The FEI based its decision on matching the positive test from the A urine sample and the B blood sample.
Israeli Ken Lalo headed the four-man FEI Judicial Committee at Zurich Airport Conference Centre. He was joined at the top table by Norwegian Erik Elstad, Belgian Francis Michielsens and Dublin solicitor Philip O’Connor.
The committee ordered O’Connor to pay a “contribution” of 5,000 Swiss francs (€3,217) towards the costs of the hearing
O’Connor has always maintained his innocence, stating that he never set out to artificially enhance his performance in Athens. He said the banned substances were administered by his vet James Sheeran to make the horse more manageable, while it underwent a course of hydrotherapy treatment.
This occurred on July 22, four weeks before the horse tested positive at Athens.
