Former Olympic champion banned till 2031 in human anti-doping case

Former Olympic showjumping champion Eric Lamaze has been banned for a further four years for violation of human anti-doping rules.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has issued its decision on a case relating to the 2008 individual gold medallist. H&H reported in 2023 that the FEI had banned him for four years and fined him, owing to “the submission of fabricated medical documents during an ongoing CAS proceeding”, and that Eric intended to appeal.

The case relates to Eric’s refusal to take a human dope test at a show in 2021. “The athlete has committed an anti-doping rule violation under the [anti-doping rules for human athletes] ADRHA article 2.5 (tampering), due to the submission of fabricated medical documents during an ongoing CAS proceeding,” the FEI said at the time, adding that Eric was deemed to have waived a hearing, admitted the violation and accepted the consequences as he did not respond to the charge.

He was banned for four years by the FEI. Eric told H&H at the time he had no knowledge of any fabricated documents adding: “I’ve never authorised any documents to be given to them. I’ve never authorised or forged any documents and have no idea why anyone did this.”

Reporting on the final CAS decision, an FEI spokesperson said: “On 8 March 2022, Mr Lamaze had received a formal notice of disciplinary charge by the FEI, for commission of an anti-doping rule violation… at Valkenswaard, 4-6 June 2021.

“While CAS proceedings were ongoing, Mr Lamaze submitted forged medical documents, which led to a four-year ineligibility period imposed by the FEI and starting on 12 September 2023.

“In its decision, the CAS panel found Mr Lamaze guilty of the anti-doping rule violation and imposed an ineligibility period of four years, starting once the ineligibility period already imposed by the FEI has ended.”

A spokesperson for Eric Lamaze told H&H he cannot be reached at the moment. But he told H&H in 2023 he refused the test as he did not know if the person asking for it was genuine.

“I’ve been tested 100 times and never seen anything like that,” he said. “They should have been wearing something with a logo, they had no accreditation. They’re supposed to have a form you fill in but they didn’t. They’re supposed to look the part, not have jeans with holes in and a jacket that looked like they were going to a nightclub. I thought I was being kidnapped – that’s why I refused the test. It was a bit scary, and my groom who was there said that; he’ll back me up.”

The extra suspension of Eric, who has retired from showjumping, will run from September 2027 until September 2031. He was fined CHF 15,000 (£13,151) and ordered to pay the arbitration costs and CHF 12,000 to the FEI towards legal fees.

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