Ireland has lost its only medal from the Athens Olympics following showjumper Cian O'Connor's decision not to appeal the stripping of his gold medal and a suspension imposed by the International Equestrian Federation (FEI).
O'Connor announced last night that he would not be contesting last month's decision by the FEI and would start a three-month ban from next Monday.
This means that he could be back on the Irish team in time for the Dublin Horse Show in August and would be in contention for a place in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
O'Connor, who yesterday won a competition in Arezzo, Italy, plans to spend the three months developing his international horses and training young riders who use his stables in Ashbourne, Co Meath.
He said he decided to accept the FEI decision "in the best interests of the sport and to avoid further controversy", in spite of advice that he might have retained his medal through an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
"The overall process I have engaged in to date was essentially about clearing my good name and thankfully this has been achieved," he said in a statement.
"I am very pleased that the FEI has affirmed what was always my stated position - that I did not attempt to alter the performance of my horse, Waterford Crystal, before or during the Olympic Games in Athens."
Two banned drugs used in humans, fluphenazine and zuclopenthixol, were found in a urine sample taken from his horse after his Athens win.
The president of the Equestrian Federation of Ireland, Avril Doyle, welcomed O'Connor's decision. "I'm glad we can draw a line under this sorry episode. He can take three months out and we can all look forward to the future."
Ms Doyle confirmed that O'Connor would be considered for the Irish team once he had served his ban.
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