Olympics 2008: A talented rider, a talented horse, a perfect team and a genuine coach – one chance to succeed, ends in hitting rock bottom and the loss of a historical bronze medal.
By Rill Rytter Fjøren. Edited Therese Alhaug. Photo Malene Nilssen & Therese Alhaug.
The Olympic Games in Rio are rapidly approaching. This time, the Norwegian equestrian jumper Tony André Hansen will be on the sidelines. Eight years have gone by since he rode on the Norwegian team during the Olympic Games in Hong Kong. It has been eight years since the little riding nation, Norway, won a bronze medal – only to lose it the following day. The doping claim should prove to be the end of a long and sought after riding career.
“It was a dream, a fantastic journey. Norway is a small country. We are so vulnerable. We have so little to go on. And then we experience something like this! “
Tony Andre Hansen
It´s the Olympic Games in 2008 and the members of the Norwegian riding team have celebrated the team’s bronze medal for exactly one day. Then they are notified that Tony André Hansen´s horse, Camiro, tests positive in a doping test. The team subsequently loses this historic medal, representing Norway´s greatest feat ever in equestrian jumping. The one, and only time, Norway as a nation was represented as a team in the Olympic Games.
“It´s eight years ago,” Tony says, emphasizing that this event is just as incomprehensible today as it was then. “In Hong Kong, there didn´t exist any rule of law. We were pushed into a corner,” he continues.
When an athlete hits rock bottom – whether it’s in their careers or their personal lives – they may find themselves back in the spotlight for the wrong reasons. This doping episode from 2008 has done something with Tony, psychologically.
“I can’t put words to it. It just hurts. I have never been able to make a comeback as I have wanted to,” he says.
Tony is no longer on the Norwegian jumping team. He no longer has any horses. But he has something much more important…a son.
Six-year-old Dylan plays on the kitchen floor. A couple of hours earlier Tony picked him up at Oslo´s Gardermoen airport. The fair-haired boy has been on Christmas vacation in New York along with his mom Jessica Almenäs.
“He has been flying all night,” says Tony. “He is quite exhausted.”
Dylan´s mom, Jessica Almenäs, lives in Sweden, where she has her career as a TV host on Swedish TV. Tony, on the other hand, lives in Norway and the six-year-old has lived with his dad since he was born. Now Dylan is going to live with his mom and attend school in Stockholm. Tony will only be able to see his son every third week and on vacations. This will be tough.
In his home country, little has been written about Tony during the last years. Is he forgotten?
“There was a lot of media attention in the beginning,” says Tony. “That is only natural. Both the owner of the horse and I gave interviews and were open about the matter. But we chose all the same to keep a low profile. That may be the reason that not much has been written later on.”
Tony pours coffee at the kitchen table.
The Norwegian show jumper does not come from a wealthy horse family. His parents, however, have supported their son´s interest in horses and helped him where they could. When Tony´s dad won 7000 EURO in the lottery, the family bought a horse with the prize money. The money covered also the cost of a simple horse trailer.
Early on Tony´s talent on the jumping arena was evident. He started already as a young rider at the top sports high school at that time, where much of his riding principles were founded. He later won both the national championship and the Nordic championship and participated in the European Championship as a junior and young rider. He also won a large, national Grand Prix championship event.
Subsequently, Tony landed a job as a rider with the Norwegian top rider, Stein Endresen, who at the time could boast both World championship participation and 28 World Cup participations. Working with Stein, Tony was allowed to compete with many horses. Later the horse ET Royal Volo, a horse with great capacity, was financed through a joint effort to support the talented young Tony. That coming winter season, Tony headed for Spain and the winter showjumping event “Sunshine Tour”, with two horses. On the way down one was sold, and Tony and his horse Volo arrived in Spain alone. In Spain, he was picked up because of his natural talent. The next step in his career was a unique sponsor contract with the Norwegian Businessman, Kjell Ulrichsen, as a professional rider in his home country and a long-term commitment to compete in the Olympic Games in 2008.
At Ulrichsen´s stable, Tony was charged with educating and developing young horses. Along with another talented Norwegian competition rider, Esben Johannessen, Tony became one of very few Norwegian professional riders. With access to good horses, his career took off. He was totally committed.
“For the first time, I had a professional team around me. I had the opportunity to travel to the large horse shows in Europe. And I got a permanent trainer, the Irishman Gerry Mullins. He was the best trainer I have ever had.”
The former international showjumping rider, Gerry Mullins, gained his skills and dicipline in the Irish army. He has won hundreds of international competitions and had represented Ireland at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles and Seoul. Personal training in addition to the compulsory riding practice, homework, and dicipline, became the norm.
“Gerry adheres to a red thread, a systematic approach to all his training,” Tony comments. “And this gives good results. I remember having to handwrestle with him every time he came! He wanted to check that I had gotten stronger! When we were to start at the Oslo Horse Show, he insisted that Esben and I must win a class each.”
-And did you do that?
“Yes, We didn´t dare do anything else! Gerry was bone hard. We respected him enormously. Thanks to him, I got the results I got.
“For the first time, I had a professional team around me. I had the opportunity to travel to the large horse shows in Europe. And I got a permanent trainer, the Irishman Gerry Mullins. He was the best trainer I have ever had.”
Tony Andre Hansen
The Olympic Games in Hong Kong loomed on the horizon. In 2003, Tony and Gerry went to Europe in order to find a future Olympic horse. In Germany, they found the six-year-old Camiro and Kjell Ulrichsen financed the purchase. Camino was a very large and somewhat slow horse, but possessed with great capacity and good qualities.
“Camiro had a somewhat bad technique to begin with, and was on the border of being a bit slow. He needed time to develop more strength. We spent five years getting Camiro ready,” Tony says.
Together the duo competed in the European Championship in 2007 and the World Cup Finals in Las Vegas. And not to mention, they qualified for the Olympic Games in Hong Kong along with the Norwegian team, which was composed of Stein Endresen, Geir Gulliksen and Morten Djupvik. The latter made a rare appearance in Norwegian horse jumping. Only two riders had represented Norway in an Olympic competition before; Ove Hansen and Morten Aasen. Neither of them received an Olympic medal though.
“Gerry adheres to a red thread, a systematic approach to all his training. And this gives good results. We respected Gerry enormously. Thanks to him, I got the results I got.”
Tony Andre Hansen
Showjumping is a very small sport in Norway compared to Central Europe and not to mention its neighbor country Sweden.
“It was a dream, a fantastic journey. Norway is a small country. We are so vulnerable. We have so little to go on. And then we experience something like this! Our team had a close bond only few can dream of having, and we had fantastic backing from the horse owners, the sponsors, and the riding community, yes, from all of Norway, even from those people who are not interested in the sport. And then we win the bronze medal! At least, we thought so. None of us had even dreamed of getting a medal. Just qualifying for the Olympics as a team was an adventure,” Tony says.
Then the team hit the “rock bottom”. In the doping control, Camiro tested positive and Norway lost the bronze medal. The verdict read: “Sentenced with illegal medication.”
Tony becomes quiet.
“It hurts to talk about it. Even today, eight years after it happened. This did not only affect me. The whole team was affected, as well as the whole support group.”
He still does not understand.
“It continues to nag me. Still. Such an event does something to your life, psychologically speaking.”
“This did not only affect me. The whole team was affected, as well as the whole support group.”
Tony Andre Hansen
The long trip home from Hong Kong was tough. At home, the horse owners, sponsors and riding colleagues were waiting. What was it like seeing them after news like that?
-How did Tony manage to stand up straight both now and the immediate time after the games?
Tony takes a sip of coffee. It is cold.
“Many would have probably collapsed,” he says
“I am strong mentally, but I can´t say that I was standing especially tall when it stormed the most around me. What has kept me upright is the fact that I have a clean conscience. And I received enormous support from everyone around me. People were positive and believed what I said.”
-Even though many of your close friends in the sport seemed to support you – outside the horse world it was a bit different. Some referred to you as a cheater, others made jokes on your behalf. How did you feel about this?
“Of course, it hurts, but that is something I have to accept. Incorrect facts, however, was more of a problem. “
-Explain?
“Many believed I had been using illegal ointment on the horse’s legs to make him more sensitive – to jump more carefully. The facts, however, is that there were found none proof of this at all, as there were no traces of medication in Camiros blood tests, only a minimal of traces in his urine….”. Tony gets serious. “ In which clearly makes a major difference. The correct story is that I was left with being accused of illegal use of drugs, which also could be caused by contamination. The fact, that bothers me the most, however, is the fact that I will never know, neither understand, how this could happen. That bothers me the most.”
-Did it ever cross your mind that some in your team could be involved in, or be responsible for, the positive tests?
“No, never. We were 100 % prepared for this event, all strict routines were followed. “
“Our team had a close bond only few can dream of having, and we had fantastic backing from the horse owners, the sponsors, and the riding community, yes, from all of Norway, even from those people who are not interested in the sport.“
Tony Andre Hansen
THE TRIAL
A two-years-long trial started, trying to prove Tony´s innocence. Trying to prove any kind of contamination externally. – An almost impossible task. Tony says. After two years trial, the final verdict was given. Tony was accused of the use of illegal medicine, as his horse tested positive for the banned substance: capsaicin. A substance that is banned by the FEI because it can make a horse’s skin ultra-sensitive and because it has pain-relieving properties.
-Did you ever think of quitting after this?
“No. This is what I have chosen to do. I was in a situation out of my control. It frightened me. There are so many things you don´t have control over in this sport. It can easily happen again. It is scary.”
-How does this affect your life today?
“For sure, I was happier before. You have to be strong mentally to deal with this sort of cases. The fact that I will never know what actually happened in this case, it is to me a forever going concern. Even though I learned a few lessons, like not believe in whatever I read in media etc, I would without doubt be better without this knowledge.“
-Do you struggle with bitterness?
“No, I would say my story affects me in a way that makes me feel more sad than bitter. “
“I am strong mentally, but I can´t say that I was standing especially tall when it stormed the most around me.”
Tony Andre Hansen
In the summer of 2015 two of the horses belonging to the Swiss rider, Steve Guerdat, tested positive for several forbidden substances, among those morphine. The FEI was, on this occasion, open to the idea that the positive testing may due to contaminated feed. After three months of intense investigation, Steve Guerdat proved feed contamination.
In Tonys case, however, there are still many unanswered questions. Contrary to other legal proceedings, in these equestrian cases, the accused is deemed guilty until the opposite is proven.
After the Olympic Games, Tony´s contract with Ulrichsen expired, which was planned from the very beginning.
Later, Tony was invited to manage Ulrichsen’s stable on his own account, to be able to start his own business with horses. But Tony was eager to continue competing at top level, and a new sponsor contract waited. The Norwegian entrepreneur, Peder Bache, offered Tony new competition horses at his disposal for future sale, and Tony decided to continue to commit to the sport. The future looked bright, until Peder Bache became seriously ill, and died. Without Bache`s support, the glorious plans experienced a setback. The operation was discontinued.
Since then the Norwegian rider has continued his education as a coach back home in Norway. The role as a coach takes up all his time, and he has shelved his professional riding, for the time being anyway.
-So how does the transition from rider to coach feel?
“I love to teach. I continue to be successful using Gerry Mullin´s training philosophy.
Today I can pass on my experience to new riders. That is good. I have competed at the highest level for many years and seen the world´s best riders. That gives me a wealth of education. Still, I miss setting my own personal goals, as I am a competitive person.”
“I was in a situation out of my control. It frightened me.”
Tony Andre Hansen
In the corner of the living room is a guitar. In Tony´s leisure time, music occupies much of his time. Even though today, Tony’s band members are spread everywhere, they still have a complete album ready to be launched. When will they release it?
“We have not decided. Maybe we should…” he muses.
-How has your interest in music helped you through the rough times?
“It is relaxing of course. I do not think about horses or other problems when I am working with music. It is fun to create something and to master your instrument.”
-How does the future look like for Norwegian equestrians today – based on your own baggage and experience?
“Today, we are fortunate enough to see talented second-generation riders in our sport in Norway too. This will, without a doubt, boost our sport. They have an enormous advantage; they are born into the sport and compete early in international arenas. No doubt these riders have the best chances of going far. But, unfortunately, the sport has become very commercialized. Many young riders from wealthy families buy expensive young horses, but they do not know how to educate them. It is not enough to be a good rider. The horse sport is more than riding. If you want to succeed you have to ride many horses and you have to develop the horse you own. Basic riding skills are important. It is when you solve a problem that you progress further, and it is mostly the person who sits on top that creates the problems the horse has to contend with.”
“I do not think about horses or other problems when I am working with music.”
Tony Andre Hansen
-Is it possible for riders without the necessary financial support to succeed in equestrian sports today?
“Yes, but then you have to sacrifice everything. You have to work harder and train more. You need to know more than riding. You must understand horse riding from the ground up. Good old horsemanship is what it takes.”
-After all this, do you still consider a come back as a competition rider?
“I dream about a comeback for sure. Recent years were dominated by the trainer education and my role as a dad for Dylan. Thus, my prioritization has been thereafter. Besides, when the decision to become a trainer was made, I wanted to do it thoroughly. Much in life is about time and place. And, now, things are different, and time feels due to concentrate on the sport again. The close future will undoubtedly involve making plans for a potential comeback. “
August 21, 2008, Olympic Games: Four riders get suspended from the individual final by the FEI because of doping/medication control tests that indicated the presence of capsaicin in each horse: Bernardo Alves (BRA)/Chupa Chup, Christian Ahlmann (GER)/Cöster, Denis Lynch (IRL)/Latinus and Tony Andre Hansen (NOR)/Camiro. As Tony`s B test was also positive, this resulted in the disqualification of the Norwegian team from the team show jumping, and the loss of a historical bronze medal.
Capsaicin: Capsaicin is classified as a doping prohibited substance given its hypersensitizing properties, and as a medication class A prohibited substance for its pain relieving properties.
