Update on Waterford Crystal

The FEI was informed on 26 October 2004, that a portion of the B-sample of the horse Waterford Crystal ridden by Cian O'Connor IRL in the 2004 Olympic Games was illegally taken while being delivered to one of the four FEI Reference Laboratories, the Horseracing Forensic Laboratory (HFL), Cambridgeshire GBR, on 21 October 2004.

The FEI Central Laboratory, Laboratoire des Courses Hippiques (HCL), Paris FRA, had only sent the B-urine sample for confirmatory analysis to the HFL. For most medication control cases for horses, only urine is analysed; when necessary and depending on the circumstances of the case the blood sample is analysed.

The FEI Reference Laboratory, USA Equestrian Drug Testing and Research Laboratory, New York USA, will proceed with the analysis of the B-blood sample in due course in accordance with FEI Veterinary Regulations.

Police investigations are underway in Great Britain, Ireland and Switzerland and an internal FEI Secretariat investigation has also begun.