THE Philippines is in danger of forfeiting its equestrian gold and silver medals in the recent Southeast Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur after John Colin Syquia’s horse failed a doping test conducted by the Federation Equestra Internationale (FEI).
The international governing body for the sport recently announced that Syquia was provisionally suspended, together with his mount, Adventure E, which tested positive for clomethiazole, a prohibited substances on FEI’s list.
Under the FEI doping policy, the rider or the Person Responsible (PR) is “automatically provisionally suspended from the date of notification. The horse, which tested positive for banned substance, is suspended for two months.”
Syquia won the gold in the men’s individual showjumping event and teamed up with Antoinette Leviste, Joker Arroyo and Sophia Chiara Amore for the silver medal finish in the showjumping team event in equestrian.
There’s no official word from the Southeast Asian Games Federation as to the status of Syquia’s victory, although in previous cases, forfeiture of medals in the biennial games were doping-related.
The Philippines finished with a total haul of 24 gold medals, 33 silver and 64 bronze medals for sixth place overall, its worst finish in 18 years in the biennial games. The Philippines had a dismal 20-gold output in the 1999 Brunei SEA Games.
And now the Philippines is facing the prospect a losing a gold and a silver.
“That’s sad news for us, but hopefully, the president of the (Philippine) equestrian federation will be on top of the situation,” said Philippine Sports Commissioner Mon Fernandez, when informed of the development during the PSC-POC Sports Chat on Wednesday.
Interestingly, the 2017 KL SEA Games was Syquia’s debut with the Philippine team. The 46-year-old Florida based rider had to endure a 36-hour from Florida via New York, Amsterdam and Baku, before reaching Kuala Lumpur.
