Drugs in Sport: Break-in thickens Waterford plot

Genevieve Murphy
Tuesday 02 November 2004 20:00 EST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

A break-in at the offices of the Equestrian Federation of Ireland in the early hours of yesterday morning added another twist to the story of the horse Waterford Crystal, with whom Cian O'Connor won the individual gold medal for show-jumping in Athens.

A break-in at the offices of the Equestrian Federation of Ireland in the early hours of yesterday morning added another twist to the story of the horse Waterford Crystal, with whom Cian O'Connor won the individual gold medal for show-jumping in Athens.

On 8 October it was announced that the A sample of a dope test taken at the Olympics had proved positive. Next came Monday's revelation that part of the B sample had been stolen. Both break-in and theft are under police investigation.

The B samples, which were identified by a code, were sent by courier from Paris to the Horseracing Forensic Laboratory at Newmarket, where part of the specimen was found to be missing. Following yesterday's break-in at the offices in Co Kildare, an anonymous fax was received at RTE radio in Dublin, which purported to know the names of the forbidden substances alleged to have been found in Waterford Crystal's A sample.

According to medical and veterinary experts, these are used for treating human patients with psychiatric conditions but are not recommended for horses.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in