Ryttar-OS: Tony André Hansen skyldig - Norge mister OS-bronset

Tony André Hansen - Camiro ledde först Norge till OS-brons. Nu blir landet av med medaljen på grund av samme ryttare. FOTO: Kit Houghton/FEI

* Internationella sportdomstolen CAS har i sag meddelat sin dom över den norske hoppryttaren Tony André Hansen, vars häst hade den förbjudna substansen capsaicin i kroppen under OS.
* Domen står fast och CAS avfärdar alla invändningar från Hansen och hans advokat Morten Steenstrup.
* Därmed mister Norge laghoppningsbronset, som går till Schweiz. Sverige blir sexa, Norge blir åtta.

Domen i sin helhet (51 sidor pdf).

Pressmeddelande från CAS:
The Court of Arbitration for Sport has rendered its final decision in the arbitration concerning the Norwegian horse rider Tony André Hansen.  The CAS has dismissed the appeal filed by the athlete and has confirmed the decision of the FEI Tribunal in which the athlete and his horse, Camiro, were disqualified from the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, suspended for four and a half months, and fined CHF 3’000.  In addition, the results of the Norwegian jumping team at the Beijing Games, initially ranked in third position, were recalculated not taking into account the results achieved by Hansen and his horse.
 
The case was referred to a Panel of CAS arbitrators composed of the Hon. Michael Beloff QC, United Kingdom (President), Dr Kaj Hobér, Sweden, and Prof. Michael Geistlinger, Austria.  A hearing was held at the CAS headquarters in Lausanne on 26 October 2009 during which the parties, their legal representatives and their witnesses and experts were heard.
 
The CAS Panel has decided to dismiss the appeal and to confirm the decision taken by the FEI Tribunal.  In summary, the CAS Panel confirmed the results of the anti-doping test revealing the presence of the banned substance Capsaicin in the horse’s urine.  The Panel rejected all arguments put forward by the athlete in order to rebut the presumption of a medication control offence, such as a possible contamination of the urine samples.
 
It is the fourth and last case judged by the CAS involving the equestrian events at the 2008 Olympic Games and the substance Capsaicin.  Denis Lynch (Ireland) and Bernardo Alves (Brazil) withdrew their appeals after the CAS dismissed their requests for a stay.  In the case of Christian Ahlmann (Germany), the CAS re-qualified the infraction as a classical doping offence and increased the sanction of the athlete to eight months, following an appeal filed by the German Equestrian Federation.
Contrary to these three cases where the source of Capsaicin was an ointment called Equi-Block, no concrete explanation concerning the presence of Capsaicin was given in the case of Tony André Hansen.