HAMBURG, Oct 9: Cian O'Conner of Ireland and Germany's Ludger Beerbaum were the target of sharp criticism after both face being stripped of Olympic show jumping gold medals from the Athens Games in the wake of positive doping tests of their horses.

The positive test of Beerbaum's horse Goldfever and that of eventing rider Bettina Hoy as well also raised questions in Germany on how prevalent doping in the sport was in the country.

The three riders, plus another so far not identified one, have requested the examination of the B sample.

O'Connor, who won Ireland's only medal at the Athens Games in August when he took the individual event, swiftly withdrew from a TV show set for Saturday night in which he was to receive the Irish Person of the Year award.

The move came after his horse Waterford Crystal tested positive for a tranquilizing agent.

The Irish Times daily said in an editorial that O'Connor should have no illusions about the outcome.

O'Connor and his veterinarian, who prescribed the drug to treat a leg injury, have protested their innocence, saying the drug had no performance-enhancing effect.

Statements from Germany struck a similar note with the treatment of Beerbaum's Goldfever sanctioned by the Olympic team doctor and Hoy's Ringwood Cockatoo even taking place after the doctor double checked with the world governing equestrian body FEI. But Manfred von Richthofen, head of Germany's umbrella sports organisation DSB, would have none of it.

Beerbaum, who already had three Olympic golds prior to the Athens Games, agreed that the latest cases were "a catastrophe".

That especially because they are only the latest with dressage star Ulla Salzgeber caught doping last year and show-jumper Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum in April.

For Hoy, the positive doping test was the culmination of an Olympic disaster.

She initially won individual and team gold, but lost both medals after the FEI ruled that she had crossed the start line too early and the Court of Arbitration in Sport confirmed this verdict.-dpa