Nicole Walker riding Falco Van Spieceld during the CSIO5* Jumping Nations Cup of Canada
© FEI/Rebecca Berry
By Equestrian Life
In December 2020, the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne Switzerland, heard the second part of appeals by Nicole Walker and Equestrian Canada against her disqualification from the 2019 Pan American Games held in Lima, Peru.
Walker tested positive for metabolites of cocaine she believes came from drinking coca tea in Lima. Coca leaves and tea are not illegal in Peru, and 27-year-old Nicole Walker has denied knowingly using cocaine.
Following the positive test at the Pan-American Games in Peru, at which the Canadian team finished 4th, The FEI reallocated one of the three Tokyo Olympic team quota slots for Jumping from Canada to Argentina. Nicole Walker, who also finished fourth in the individual final with Falco Van Spieveld, was provisionally suspended by the FEI on 11 November 2019 after testing positive for Benzoylecgonine, a metabolite of cocaine, which is a prohibited substance under the FEI’s Anti-Doping Rules for Human Athletes (ADRHA). The sample was taken on 7 August, 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” applied in this case.
In line with this decision, the Athlete’s results from both the team and individual competitions at the Pan-American Games were disqualified, and her results in the team competitions on 6 and 7 August replaced by those of the fourth Canadian team member, Lisa Carlsen. The Commission ordered that Panam Sports recalculate the team results accordingly.
The resulting recalculation meant that Canada dropped to seventh on a finishing score of 84.07 and therefore lost its team quota place for the Tokyo Olympic Games. This was reallocated by the FEI to Argentina, which originally finished fifth in Lima on 62.19. .
The Court of Arbitration for Sport has given no timetable for its judges to deliver a verdict in the appeal case.
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