CAS sets date for Hansen appeal to keep Norway’s equestrian medal in Olympic doping case

CAS sets date for Hansen’s Olympic doping appeal

LAUSANNE, Switzerland — Sport’s highest court on Thursday set an October date for Tony Andre Hansen’s appeal to keep his Olympic equestrian medal after his horse failed a drug test.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport will hear the Norwegian rider challenge an International Equestrian Federation (FEI) ruling to disqualify him from the Beijing Games, stripping him of the bronze in team jumping. The case is set for Oct. 26-27 with a decision expected by the end of the year.

Hansen’s horse, Camiro, tested positive for capsaicin, a banned pain relieving medication derived from chili peppers.

The 30-year-old Hansen was the best performer for the four-rider Norway team — including Morten Djupvik, Stein Endresen, and Geir Gulliksen — which won bronze under a scoring system where the top three results count. Without Hansen’s scores, Norway drops out of medal contention.

The fourth-place Switzerland team of Steve Guerdat, Christina Liebherr, Niklaus Schurtenberger and Pius Schwizer would be in line to get the bronze.

The United States won gold, beating Canada in a jumpoff in Hong Kong, where the Olympic equestrian events were staged last August.

Hansen was provisionally suspended at the games and did not complete the individual jumping competition. The FEI later banned him for 4 1/2 months.