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Olympic Doping and the Possible End of Equestrian Olympics

It is always an awful thing to imagine that somehow someone is falsely charged. A medication that one thought was approved but turns out that it isn’t. The possibility of sabotage, substances that no one seems to have an explanation for, and substances that may be in materials used that no one is aware of - can create all sorts of difficulties.

We cannot always know how innocent any party is when charges of doping are raised but it is reassuring to see that the FEI continues to stand strong on this issue, and if the drug is confirmed - action is taken. The FEI takes a strong stand on doping and rightly so, this is not something that we should be hedging over. Drugging horses to win is just plain wrong.

The latest sad development is that the FEI has announced an additional and final doping/medication case at the 2008 Olympic Games involving rider Rodrigo Pessoa (BRA) and his horse Rufus.

Many will find it shocking that a test carried out on the horse following the individual final revealed an A sample that tested positive for the banned substance nonivamide, part of the capsaicinoid family and classified as a « doping » prohibited substance given its hypersensitizing properties, and as a « medication class A » prohibited substance for its pain relieving properties.

The sample was received by the laboratory on Saturday 23 August following the individual Jumping Final at which Rodrigo Pessoa and Rufus placed fifth. A preliminary hearing was held by teleconference at 17h00 on 28 August before a member of the FEI Tribunal and the suspension was confirmed on 29 August.

The B sample test is scheduled for Tuesday 2 September in Hong Kong.

Should the B sample confirm the findings of the A sample, the process will follow the Accelerated Medication Control Procedure during and after the 2008 Olympic Games which is part of the FEI Regulations for Equestrian events at the 2008 Olympic Games.

Evidence and written submissions will be requested and a hearing will be held before the FEI Tribunal.

Thankfully in terms of testing at the 2008 Olympic Games, all results have now been received, and there are no remaining cases to be reported.

The FEI has made every effort to ensure that the riders had every opportunity to minimize inadvertent medication, with the FEI offering post-arrival elective testing in Hong Kong.

For the first time in the history of anti-doping and medication control at the Olympic Games, Post-Arrival Elective Testing (PAET) was be made available to the participants in the Olympic and Paralympic equestrian events held in Hong Kong. The objective of this procedure is to minimise inadvertent medication violations at the Olympic and Paralympic equestrian events by assisting the competitors to determine whether or not residues of legitimate medications are present in urine samples collected from their competition horses immediately upon their arrival in Hong Kong.

This unique initiative, was hoped to help in the fight to prevent positive test results, has been made possible by the commitment of the FEI and the capabilities of the Hong Kong Jockey Club Racing Laboratory.

Post-Arrival Elective Testing was a VOLUNTARY testing service provided by the FEI’s Reference Laboratory in Hong Kong, i.e., the Hong Kong Jockey Club Racing Laboratory, to all competitors of the 2008 Olympic and Paralympic equestrian events.

To make use of this service, a urine sample (not blood) was collected, labelled and submitted together with a completed application form within 12 hours of arrival of the horse at the Olympic Post Arrival Isolation (PAI) stables in Sha Tin. Security guards of the Hong Kong Jockey Club received the collected and labelled urine samples on site together with the completed application forms and deliver them to the HKJC Racing Laboratory immediately for testing.

The confidential test reports (limited to qualitative, positive or negative, results only) was to be transmitted to the relevant team vet or representative as per details on the PAET application form. It should be noted that the test results were unofficial and for reference only.

No sanctions were to be imposed for medications found in the PAET samples. The testing of the first urine sample was paid for by the FEI and was therefore free of charge for the competitors.

This effort on the part of the FEI to ensure that no false positives would happen is to be applauded. Unfortunately another four cases besides Rodrigo Pessoa have been confirmed for doping of their horses at the 2008 Olympics.

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