Olympic News <- Please Post Articles and Links

fits

Seifer infracted.

Ludo

Looks like a fair cop:

http://www.breakingnews.ie/sport/mhqleyeymhid/

If this story is true then it is a disgrace...utter stupidity!

This is the final warning for this thread.

Next person to post crap or troll gets a weeks ban.

breakingnews.ie

http://www.breakingnews.ie/sport/mhqleyeymhid/

breakingnews.ie wrote:

An equestrian version of the popular 'Deep Heat' product commonly used by athletes is to blame for the suspension of Irish Olympic rider Denis Lynch's horse Lantinus, Horse Sport Ireland (HSI) has claimed today.

HSI was informed by the world equestrian governing body, the FEI, that Lantinus had tested positive for a banned substance and that as a result he would be suspended from taking part in tonight's Olympic show jumping final.

"Denis Lynch and HSI officials attended a preliminary hearing with the FEI a short time ago and were informed that the substance found in the horse was called capsaicin," said a HSI statement.

"At the tribunal the FEI indicated that this substance was an ingredient in some products in regular use. Subsequently it was identified by Denis Lynch as an ingredient in a product called 'Equi-block' used by him on his horse.

"Equi-block is a product used in similar circumstances to Deep Heat used on humans and Denis Lynch explained to the tribunal that he commonly applies Equiblock to the horse's lower back prior to exercise.

"Following this preliminary hearing today the FEI informed Denis Lynch that he remained suspended for tonight's competition.

"The FEI have subsequently confirmed that three other riders due to jump in tonight's final at Hong Kong have also been suspended as a result of the same substance being found in their horses.

"Horse Sport Ireland has confirmed that they submitted a urine sample from the horse to a voluntary screening testing process made available by the FEI on the horse's arrival in Hong Kong and the results of this test were negative.

"The horse has also been tested on numerous occasions, including following many of its recent victories, and has tested negative on all these occasions."

jasonb

I don't understand, if this is something that he commonly puts on the horse's back, and yet it has a ingredient on the banned list, why hasn't it been detected before now?

J.

fits

Good question. We'll never know I guess. Its very disappointing though.

Im just glad that they werent using it to 'sore' the horse in the manner togster described.

That is something which I am also wondering.

togster

I just ran a google search. "Equi block ingrediends". First result= Carpascian.

Very easy to research tbh and im not competing at the olympics.

Equi block is used as a pain reliever amongst other things.

http://www.kyhorse.com/store/health/liniments/equiblock.htm

Equi-Block is a topical pain reliever for the temporary relief of minor aches and pains associated with arthritis, tendonitis, strains, sprains and simple backache in horses. Scientifically formulated for racehorses. Contains capsaicin, will not test positive. 8 ounces.

jasonb

Hmmm... Did the same search myself, and found this page...

http://www.rods.com/p/5757,147_Equi-Block-Topical-Pain-Reliever.html

Look at the description, or even the picture of the product. Both have 'Will not test postive' on it!

J.

MDFM

Its something he also prob uses on his other horses also..same goes, why hasnt it being detected before?

fits

jasonb wrote: »

Hmmm... Did the same search myself, and found this page...

http://www.rods.com/p/5757,147_Equi-Block-Topical-Pain-Reliever.html

Look at the description, or even the picture of the product. Both have 'Will not test postive' on it!

J.

Thats extremely fishy.

i'm going to warn here about rumours and conjecture. Be very careful what you say everyone.

jasonb

I have to say, there's a difference to me to the words 'will not test positive' and 'is not on the banned list' ( for example ). 'Will not test positive' sounds to me like it'll get away with it.

I did a Wiki of Capsaicin and it states it's on the banned substances for Equestrian Sports, so I don't see how a product can say 'Contains Capsaicin, will not test positive'.

The two biggest questions to me would be how would a rider put something on the horse without checking the ingredients, unless the rider thought it was fine already. And how was this not spotted earlier than the morning of the Olympic Final!

J.

Its designed for racehorses right?

That doesn't fall under FEI so it may be allowed there...

jasonb

That's a good point, maybe it's fine for racehorses, so when they say 'will not test positive' they mean it's allowed for horseracing.

That said, I still think the language on the container is a little suspicious. I know I'm a stickler for language ( ask my fiancée, it drives her mad! ), but 'Will not test positive' has a subtle different meaning to 'not on the banned list'.

J.

Dodge

Maybe a certain amount of capsaican is allowed, and the makers of Equi Block are trying to point out that it contains amounts less than the maximum allowed (the same way, say, testosterone is allowed in female athletes but above a certain level is banned)

The fact that Lynch openly told them what he had taken suggests he wasn't trying to hide anything IMO

As others have pointed out, with the Olympics they all should've been extra cautious as even that tagline "will not test positive" would set alarms in my head. The flipside of that is that he's obviously used it a bit, and if he hasn't tested positive before, he probably assumed it was OK to use here.

ledgehack

its somewhat unbelievable to think that four countries would make the same mistake regarding this substance

Seifer

Dodge wrote:

Maybe a certain amount of capsaican is allowed, and the makers of Equi Block are trying to point out that it contains amounts less than the maximum allowed

Well it's a substance that's rubbed onto the horses flesh i.e. administered externally. So most likely that warning "will not test positive" has a little asterix that says "when following recommended dose guidelines". You'd have to be whacking a load of it on to get a significant enough amount to test positive in the horse's urine though.
Another scenario is that the riders were separately dosing the horses with capsaican and thinking they could fall back on this cream if found out.

ledgehack

wonder how much of this substance was found in the sample given??

Dodge

Seifer wrote: »

Another scenario is that the riders were separately dosing the horses with capsaican and thinking they could fall back on this cream if found out.

Again I'd imagine the dosage, and the amount in the sample would easily prove/disprove that. Even my original post above is largely conjecture (and devils advacocy at that)


watching the final now online. No horse witha double clear so far (4 to go). They're busy raking the sand in front of one of the fences :rolleyes:

Dodge

And with that Rolf Goran Bengtsson on Ninja jumps clear for Sweden, followed by last rider out Eric Lameze for Canada with Hickstead

7 riders on 4 faults

Dodge

Bezzie madden wins bronze.

Bengtsson had a fence down in jump off meaning lameze could stroll around clear and pick up his gold.

Ah well...

Breakingnews

http://www.breakingnews.ie/sport/olympics/mhqleyeygbmh/

Breakingnews wrote:

21/08/2008 - 16:50:05
Irish rider Denis Lynch has protested his innocence as his hopes of winning an Olympic medal were ended tonight after being forced to withdraw from the individual showjumping final when his horse Lantinus tested positive for a banned substance.

The 32-year-old was provisionally suspended by the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) earlier today when Lantinus tested positive for capsaicin - a class A medication prohibited due to his pain relieving properties.

Three other horses from Germany, Brazil and Norway also tested positive for the substance.

However Lynch, along with Horse Sport Ireland (HSI) chief executive Damien McDonald and team veterinarian Marcus Swail, called a press conference during the final in Hong Kong tonight to explain why the test had returned positive.

They stated that Lynch used a Deep Heat-like cream called Equiblock - that contains capsiacin as an ingredient - on his horse and had been using it as part of their preparations for some time.

"Once we were informed of the positive finding our first reaction was to work out how it had come about," said Swail.

"We established it was contained in a product called Equiblock which Denis uses commonly during warm-up.

"Denis has worked hard to get here and his preparations have been no different to anything he has done in any previous competitions.

"It seems to be an extremely severe punishment that he is not allowed to jump tonight given that he has been tested before without any problems."

Lynch described himself as shattered after being denied the opportunity to compete for an Olympic medal.

The Tipperary-born rider had been in fine form during qualifying, picking up just two penalty points in the first two rounds and six in his third outing to qualify for the final.

"I'm shattered," said Lynch. "I can't really say anymore.

"We came here (to the press conference) as we have nothing to hide and have done nothing wrong."

Seifer

A very good segment done on the whole debacle on "The Olympics with Bill O' Herlihy" and the over-riding thing I took from it was that they have only very recently developed a test for capsaican and this is the only reason that no one had been testing positive for it before.
If this was the case then he was willfully using a product that shows it uses a banned substance on the front of the packaging and should be banned from competing or ever representing this country again.
The B sample results are expected around the 30th of August.

convert

I actually thought the discussion was quite poor, exceptionally biased and far too hard hitting especially as the B sample has yet to be tested. It's yet another case of we'll support you when you're doing well but we'll go to pains to hit you hard when you're down, which is all too prevalent in Ireland in every aspect, not just sport.

The substance which was been used is the equivalent of deep heat for humans which is used for muscle ache, etc. Like previous posters have mentioned, if you take a look at the Equiblock website, it clearly says that it will not test positive. He's used it the horse all season and has never had a problem. The horse was even tested when he arrived at the Olympics and passed.

Here's an article on it, with quotations from Lynch and the Irish camp:

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?from=rss_News&set_id=1&click_id=79&art_id=nw20080821173231927C964239

Finally, it's not so black and white regarding banning those who've failed dope tests. It depends on a number of factors, including the level of the substance in the sample, and whether or not it was deliberately administered. There was an incident a few years ago in racing where horses from a well known and respected trainer's yard failed dope tests and he protested his innocence. He had the feedstuffs analysed and it turned out the manufacturer had inadvertently included the substance in the feed. It wasn't the trainer's fault at all. Any decision regarding the banning of an individual can't be taken lightly

Seifer

convert wrote:

it clearly says that it will not test positive. He's used it the horse all season and has never had a problem.

Yes but if what the women who was talking to Bill said was true, the only reason for this is because there was no test for it.

And in reality, how often does the B sample differ from the A one?

convert wrote:

It's yet another case of we'll support you when you're doing well but we'll go to pains to hit you hard when you're down, which is all too prevalent in Ireland in every aspect, not just sport.

Or alternatively, we'll support you when you're doing your best and take you apart if you're cheating.

convert wrote:

whether or not it was deliberately administered.

The rider has admited rubbing the cream containing the banned substance onto the horse.

skink

Seifer wrote: »

A very good segment done on the whole debacle on "The Olympics with Bill O' Herlihy" and the over-riding thing I took from it was that they have only very recently developed a test for capsaican and this is the only reason that no one had been testing positive for it before.
If this was the case then he was willfully using a product that shows it uses a banned substance on the front of the packaging and should be banned from competing or ever representing this country again.
The B sample results are expected around the 30th of August.

your attitude on a whole in this forum is quite tiring, you just take pot-shots left, right and centre. For one i work in a diagnoistics lab, and i compete horses, as has been said many times before it is not black or white, until the b samples are all tested, also i am calling bullsh!t on there being no test for capsaician, if its on the banned list it can be tested.

i may keep my mouth shut, too angry at the moment

Dodge

Seifer wrote: »

Yes but if what the women who was talking to Bill said was true, the only reason for this is because there was no test for it.
.

Or course there was a test for it, you can't put something on the banned list, and not test for it...

convert

Seifer wrote: »

Or alternatively, we'll support you when you're doing your best and take you apart if you're cheating.

Yes, when one is doing their best! What about the discussions that take place when athletes haven't performed to the expectations in the past? That attitude clearly didn't occur because they 'cheated'.

Seifer wrote: »

The rider has admited rubbing the cream containing the banned substance onto the horse.

Yes, and he also said that he wasn't aware that it was a banned substance, nor did the team vet.

Seifer

convert wrote:

Yes, and he also said that he wasn't aware that it was a banned substance, nor did the team vet.

Ignorance isn't an excuse. I mean it says will not test positive on the front and highlights the active ingredient. As other posters have shown, it's clearly available information with a quick google.
And why hadn't he told the team vet he was using the product? Why would you not check it out to be on the safe side?

Dodge wrote:

Or course there was a test for it, you can't put something on the banned list, and not test for it...

After a quick google I can't find anything to support or deny that. Can you link to somewhere?
The fact that the test was only recently developed would help explain the fact that four horses were found to be doped.