ATHENS, Greece -- France, Britain and the United States
lodged a joint appeal Friday with the Court of Arbitration for
Sport against the decision that gave Germany the gold medal in the
three-day team equestrian event.
CAS general secretary Matthieu Reeb said a three-member panel
would hold a hearing on the case later Friday, with a verdict
expected Saturday.
Germany's riders won the gold medal Wednesday but not before
losing it, and then winning it back, in a bizarre flurry of judging
decisions and reversals. The turnabout briefly gave the U.S. team
the bronze.
Initially, the judges gave Germany the gold and France the
silver, while Britain took bronze.
But the same officials, concerned that Germany's Bettina Hoy
might have crossed the start line twice on the show jumping course,
then docked Germany 14 points, dropping it from first place to
fourth with 147.8 points in a decision that lifted the United
States to the bronze.
Germany then lodged a protest, an equestrian appeals committee
reversed the judges' decision -- and the Germans reclaimed their
gold. Once again, France was awarded the silver and Britain the
bronze. The United States was left empty-handed.
The appeal submitted by the three countries to CAS challenges
whether the equestrian appeal committee had jurisdiction to
overturn the judges' decision, Reeb said.
"They claim the basic decision of the ground jury should be
confirmed," he told The Associated Press.
The CAS panel assigned to hear the case is chaired by South
African judge Deon van Zyl of South Africa. The other members are
Canada's Richard McLaren and Pandelis Dedes of Greece.