'CRUEL TWIST OF FATE' LED TO OLYMPIC WOES

Adjudicator's Ruling Exonerates Show Jumper

Show jumper Eric Lamaze's recent road to drug ruin was fuelled by alcohol
and a cocaine cigarette near a portable toilet at a horse show in
Collingwood one night in August.

But above all else, it was triggered by an erroneous lifetime ban - the
result of "a rather bizarre and tragic sequence of events," adjudicator Ed
Ratushny concluded.

"The evidence before me did not disclose in any way that Mr. Lamaze is a
drug addict or that his positive test was an attempt to cheat," the
University of Ottawa law professor wrote.

"The evidence did disclose that his personal history has left him
vulnerable in some respects."

Ratushny's ruling is sympathetic to Lamaze, who became a world-class
equestrian despite a troubled childhood. He also noted how Lamaze pulled
himself together following a suspension for cocaine use that kept him from
competing at the 1996 Olympics.

"Mr. Lamaze has never attempted to cheat by using performance-enhancing
drugs. His survival of a severely disadvantaged youth was remarkable. His
triumph over the previous doping infraction was inspiring. His notification
by Dr. (Andrew) Pipe of a lifetime ban for a doping infraction he did not
commit was a cruel twist of fate."

Ratushny's 11-page ruling was officially released yesterday, following the
earlier release of a one-page summation Monday. The decision opened the
door for the Canadian Olympic Association to allow Lamaze to compete in the
Sydney Games.

Ratushny lays out a doping case - the one that precipitated the cocaine use
- - that took place with the clock ticking, with athletes and horses about to
head for Sydney. And Lamaze had been led to believe that he would only get
a letter of warning for inadvertent doping.

But his hopes for Sydney and the future were shattered Aug. 18 when the
equestrian from Schomberg received a call from his lawyer advising him he
had been banned for life for a second positive drug test.

Lamaze was devastated.

"He made it back to his hotel but could not eat or sleep and was awake the
entire night," Ratushny wrote. "On Aug. 19, he was exhausted and in a state
of panic. He could not speak coherently and his communication came out as
'gibberish.' "

Hoping it might provide a diversion from his suicidal state, Lamaze's
fiancee persuaded him to attend a party for his fellow competitors at the
horse show.

"At the party, he drank heavily and became intoxicated. His fiancee
persuaded him to return to the hotel but he said he had to go to the
washroom and would leave with her when he returned.

"Portable toilets had been set up behind the main tents where the party was
taking place. On his way to the toilets, he met some people whom he knew,
who were also intoxicated.

"He stopped to talk and when cocaine in cigarette form was passed around to
him, he shared the cigarette. He then went to the toilet, returned to the
party and was immediately taken back to the hotel room by his fiancee."