Русская версияThe International Equestrian Federation (FEI) suspended the
33-year-old former European champion, making him ineligible to
compete for Germany in the individual Olympic final in Hong Kong on
Thursday, Aug.
21.
The banned substance capsaicin was found in Ahlmann's horse,
Coester, on Sunday, a day before the team show jumping finals in
which Germany finished fifth.
Tested positive for chilies?
Under new rules, riders and their horses can be suspended if their
A samples are positive. The result of Coester's B sample is due to
be announced by the Hong Kong Analytical Laboratory on Friday.
All German horses were tested for drugs before they left for Hong
Kong at the beginning of August and nothing untoward was found,
said the team's veterinarian, Bjoern Nolting.
Nolting said he was concerned that the positive results may
have been a result of chilies applied to the skin as a superficial
treatment.
"It has a primarily blood circulation-promoting effect," said
Nolting, noting that capsaicin is an extract derived of chilies.
Other horses fail doping test
Germany's equestrian team is not the only one to be experiencing
this problem. Norway could lose the bronze medal it won in the team
show-jumping event after rider Tony Andre Hansen's horse Camiro
tested positive for the same banned substance capsaicin, the
International Equestrian Federation (FEI) confirmed Thursday.
If the B sample confirms the failed dope test then Hansen's team
drop off the medal podium and will be replaced by Switzerland. Gold
in the event Monday went to the United States while Canada took
silver.
Lantinus, the horse of Ireland's Denis Lynch, and Brazilian
Bernhard Alves' horse Chupa Chup also failed dope tests, making
Lynch ineligible for Thursday's individual competition.
It's not the first time that the Olympic equestrian events have
been marred by doping. At the Athens Games four years ago, Germany
was forced to hand back its team gold after failing to register
medication given to one of the horses.
(Deutsche Welle)
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