Canada Loses Olympic Jumping Spot

Canada Loses Olympic Jumping Spot

The Fédération Equestre Internationale has reallocated one of the three Tokyo 2020 Olympic team quota slots for jumping from the Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, in August following an adverse analytical finding in a member of the Canadian team, which finished fourth.


Nicole Walker, who also finished fourth in the individual final with Falco Van Spieveld, was provisionally suspended by the FEI on Nov. 11 after testing positive for benzoylecgonine, a metabolite of cocaine, which is a prohibited substance under the FEI’s Anti-Doping Rules for Human Athletes. The sample was taken on Aug. 7, the day of the team final in Lima.


The commission decided that Article 11.2.2* of the FEI ADRHA, which states: “The athlete’s results will be subtracted from the team result, to be replaced with the results of the next applicable team member” applies in this case.


Walker’s results from both the team and individual competitions at the Pan American Games were disqualified, and her results in the team competitions on Aug. 6 and 7 were replaced by those of the fourth Canadian team member, Lisa Carlsen. The commission ordered that Panam Sports recalculate the team results accordingly.


The reallocation means that the 20 nations that have qualified jumping teams for Tokyo are: Japan, USA, Sweden, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Australia, Belgium, Britain, France, Ukraine, Israel, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Egypt, Qatar, New Zealand, China and Ireland.


source: Press Release/ Chronofhorse