Kecskemet (HUN) 04 August - 08 August 2004

Complex case

The victory, however, was confirmed after a lengthy and complex medication case, the final decision in which was taken by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

Michael Freund (GER) had initially won gold at the FEI Driving World Championship for Four-in-Hand in 2004.

During an anti-doping control test performed after his victory, the horse Mary 64, part of Michael Freund’s team of four horses, had tested positive to valerenic acid, a sedative and a prohibited substance under the FEI Veterinary Regulations.

Freund had argued the presence of the substance was the result of the probable ingestion of a plant while grazing in the field outside the stables during the event. Moreover, valerenic acid had had no enhancing effect on the horse’s performance.

Various experiments were carried out after an initial hearing by the FEI Judicial Committee in June 2005. These were aimed at determining the likelihood that environmental factors were the cause of the positive test result.

A majority of the Judicial Committee panel hearing the case, given conflicting evidence, had cited exceptional circumstances and had taken the decision to terminate the case without disqualification.

Appeal

The FEI Judicial Committee’s decision had been appealed to CAS by the drivers Zoltan Lazar (HUN), Félix Marie Brasseur (BEL), the Hungarian Equestrian Federation, and the Belgian Equestrian Federation.

On 10 August 2006, the CAS panel disqualified Michael Freund and the horse Mary 64 from the event. The gold medal in the individual Four-in-Hand competition he had won was withdrawn and all prize money was forfeited. The ranking of the event was rectified as follows: Zoltan Lazar (HUN) – first (gold medal); Ysbrand Chardon (NED) – second (silver medal) and Félix Marie Brasseur (BEL) – third (bronze medal).

Teams

Individual champion Lazar, alongside fellow Hungarians Laszlo Kecskemeti and Jozsef Dobrovitz, were team champions ahead of The Netherlands and Belgium.