German Olympic horses tested positive for drugs

Six weeks after the Athens &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/world/20/91/365/13873_Bush.html ' target=_blank>Olympics, the United States stands to pick up another gold medal — thanks to an equestrian doping scandal.

The four Americans who finished second in the team jumping event could be bumped up to gold because a &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/cis/2001/04/29/4464.html ' target=_blank>horse ridden by a member of the winning German team failed a drug test.

The International Equestrian Federation, known as FEI, said from its Swiss headquarters Friday that four horses tested positive for banned substances during the Aug. 13-29 games, reports MSNBC News.

According to the Fox Sports, the German Equestrian Federation confirmed that the horses of two of its riders, Beerbaum, winner of the Olympic team show jumping gold, and Bettina Hoy had failed &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/accidents/21/96/383/13850_drugs.html ' target=_blank>drugs tests in Athens.

The Equestrian Federation of Ireland later confirmed in Dublin that Waterford Crystal, the horse that O'Connor rode to the individual show jumping title, had also tested positive.

Beerbaum's horse Goldfever tested positive for Betamethasone after the German won his fifth Olympic title on August 24, while Hoy's horse Ringwood Cockatoo failed a test for hydroxy-diphenhydramine on August 18.

Germany's riders have already been involved in controversy after the Games. They were stripped of the three-day eventing team and individual gold when it was ruled, after an appeal by other competitors, that Hoy had illegally crossed the start line twice.

Reiner Wendt, director of the German Olympic Equestrian Committee, said he was shaken by the results but that it was too early to jump to conclusions.