Former German chef d'equipe Martin Richenhagen has been interviewed by the famous German news magazine Spiegel on the Isabell Werth doping case.
Richenhagen was chef at the 2008 Olympic Games in Hong Kong where the German team won gold.
The 56-year old American based German responded in brief to the doping drama in Germany:
Spiegel: Olympic Champion Isabell Werth has to appear in front of the FEI Tribunal this week for doping. Someone who has been caught on doping will be banned from the next Olympic Games. So you'll have to do without Werth?
Richenhagen: That would be a disaster for the dressage sport. We need a special rule. Isabell Werth is the most successful dressage rider of all times, who has now drawn the attention because her vet made a mistake.
Spiegel: But successful athletes have to live by the rules as well?
Richehagen: I fear that Werth will be used as an example. When my wife would have done the same, nobody would have been interested.
Spiegel: Maybe the German Equestrian Federation (FN) has learnt from its mistakes and has now become strict?
Richenhagen: The FN is an association of riders. At the moment I get the impression they are working against the riders. Many board members seem to have forgot what they have done to their own horses when they were riders.
Spiegel: Do you believe that the FN is doing it the hard way just because the public expects it from them?
Richenhagen: We need unified international rules. At the moment it looks like the FN is all on its own with their hard approach. Internationally riding with a whip in dressage has been abolished, but in Germany it never got that far.
Related Links
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Isabell Werth Suspended - Whisper Tested Positive for Doping