PARIS (AFP) - Germany's Ludger Beerbaum and Ireland's Cian O'Connor's Olympic gold medals were in jeopardy after it was confirmed that the horses of both riders had failed drugs tests at the Athens Games.
The German Equestrian Federation confirmed that the horses of two of their riders, Beerbaum, winner of the Olympic team show jumping gold, and Bettina Hoy had failed 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.
That decision meant Hoy lost the individual gold and it also dropped the three-day eventing team down the standings.
O'Connor, who became a national hero when he won Ireland's only medal in Athens, said he will make a detailed case to the Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI) when the results of the 'B' sample become known.
The Irish federation said that the horse's vet James Sheerna had admitted administering a sedative to the horse as part of treatment for an injury, a month before the Games.
"Mr O'Connor was told by his vet that the sedative drug would disperse from the horse's system within 10 to 14 days, and was not in any case a factor that would influence performance," the federation said in a statement.
O'Connor said: "I am utterly devastated that the Sample 'A' taken from my horse at the Games has tested positive.
"That notion amounts to cheating, and I am not a cheat.
"I believe that I won this medal fair and square and that the horse has not been given anything that would make him jump better."
"I am very professional, and take everything extremely seriously, both veterinary matters and the stable management.
"I am fully aware of the FEI rules and I know that I must take responsibility for any medication administered to my horse," added O'Connor.