EQUESTRIAN UNWORTHY OF OLYMPIC CHANCE

Competing at the highest level of sports is a privilege. It should be
reserved for athletes who play by the rules, not the Eric Lamazes who take
drugs banned by sporting bodies - and the law.

The Canadian Olympic Association deserves a gold medal for ruling that
equestrian Eric Lamaze can't represent Canada at the Summer Games in Sydney.
This sends the right message to our kids and to future Olympians: There are
rules. If you break them, it's your fault. There's a price to pay.

Mr. Lamaze tested positive on July 22 for two banned substances,
unintentionally consumed in cold and headache medications. For this, the
Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sports banned him for life from competing in
amateur sports. But on Aug. 24, the sporting body's doping control review
board reversed this decision. It concluded there was no infraction of the
doping regulations because the substances wouldn't enhance the performance
of a rider.

Yet another test on Aug. 29 revealed not only an infraction of the rules,
but also of the law. It found that the champion equestrian had cocaine in
his blood stream. So this time, it was the Canadian Equestrian Federation
that banned Mr. Lamaze for life and removed him from the Olympic team.

End of story? Unfortunately not.

This week, an arbitrator, Edward Ratushny, lifted the lifetime ban on Mr.
Lamaze. Mr. Ratushny cited "exceptional circumstances" -- the rider was
"exhausted and in a state of panic" because of his earlier lifetime ban. As
a result, he drank heavily and took some cocaine.

By all accounts, Mr. Lamaze comes from a difficult background of family
alcohol and drug problems. He no doubt deserves credit for pulling himself
together to become not only a champion equestrian, but also a successful
businessmen.

But these successes do not give Mr. Lamaze a licence to flout the rules of
sport or the laws of the land.

And it's not as if this is the first time he has broken the rules. In 1996,
he missed the Summer Games in Atlanta because he tested positive for
cocaine. A year later, the same arbitrator, Mr. Ratushny, reinstated him on
appeal.

These two ill-advised decisions make a mockery of efforts to eradicate
illegal drug use in sports. Mr. Ratushny's leniency for this rule-breaker is
unfair to other athletes who rely only on natural ability and hard work.

Becoming an Olympian is hugely demanding. Serious athletes, some of them
very young, have no time for other interests. They give up the time with
friends and family, not to mention opportunities to earn money, that most of
us take for granted.

Competing at the highest level of sports is a privilege, and it should be
reserved for those who've done it the hard way. Those who don't take banned
substances to enhance their performance or use drugs as a crutch to handle
personal pressures are the only ones who deserve to represent our country.

Mr. Lamaze does not.