The FEI Tribunal has lifted the provisional suspensions of two dressage riders, Adrienne Lyle and Kaithlin Blythe. They had been provisionally suspended since 5 April, the date they were notified that their horses had tested positive to the banned substance Ractopamine at the 2017 CDI Wellington in February.
Their provisional suspensions were lifted at midnight on 28 April following evidence provided by the two athletes that a feed supplement given to the horses had been contaminated.
The FEI has introduced the concept of Specified Substances. Specified Substances should not in any way be considered less important or less dangerous than other Prohibited Substances. Rather, they are simply substances which are more likely to have been ingested by horses for a purpose other than the enhancement of sport performance, for example, through a contaminated food substance.
The FEI Tribunal maintained the provisional suspensions of the two horses on horse welfare grounds and in order to ensure a level playing field, however both athletes applied to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne (SUI) for provisional measures to request the lifting of the suspensions of both horses so that they could compete at the US Dressage Festival of Champions (18-21 May).
The CAS granted the provisional measures this week (8 May), but still have to rule on the merits of the case.
Photo © Astrid Appels
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