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Citaat:

"MARKOPOULO, Greece (AP) -- Equestrian is supposed to be all about elegance, poise and politesse.

Not on Wednesday, when the Olympic three-day team event degenerated into an unprecedented free-for-all before Germany ended up with the gold -- twice.

A flurry of back-and-forth medal rulings must have made spectators feel like they were watching table tennis.

First, the judges gave Germany the gold and France the silver, while Britain took bronze.

Then they stepped in to investigate whether the clock was running when Bettina Hoy of Germany, riding Ringwood Cockatoo, crossed the start line.

The judges ended up awarding France the gold and docking Germany 12 points, dropping it from first place to fourth with 147.8 points in a decision that lifted the United States to third.

Germany responded by asking for a review by an appeals committee, which reversed the judges -- and the Germans reclaimed their gold.

"The ground jury itself realized there had been irregularities and decided to investigate what had happened,'' said Hugh Thomas of Britain, an appeals committee member.

All three nations that were bumped down planned to appeal the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, French team coach Olivier Lepage said.

"I've got the authorization of the French Federation and Olympic Committee,'' Lepage said. "We are going to do it with the American and British Federations. If we are three, it's going to have more weight.''

In its second review, the appeals committee restored the original medal order, noting that the clock running during the event on the show jumping course had malfunctioned while Hoy was competing.

"The committee concluded that the countdown had been restarted resulting in a clear injustice to the rider concerned,'' the committee said in a statement.

Tyrza schreef:

Update: N i e u w bericht, vervangt: Duitse militaryploeg is goud kwijt ATHENE (ANP) - Na protesten over en weer heeft de Duitse militaryploeg toch het olympisch goud bemachtigd. Duitsland was winnaar maar werd na een protest van de Franse ploeg teruggezet naar de vierde plaats. Op zijn beurt ging Duitsland in beroep tegen die uitspraak en de jury gaf daaraan gehoor. Duitsland kreeg het goud terug. Frankrijk bleef twee, Groot-Brittannie drie. De Fransen zagen dat de Duitsers de klok bij het vertrek van de laatste ruiter Bettina Hoy te laat indrukten. Hoy keerde terug en startte opnieuw. De herstart werd door de jury eerst niet en later weer wel geaccepteerd.

Bron: ANP