SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) - Brazil's Rodrigo Pessoa received the Athens Olympic gold medal in the individual show jumping event Monday, nearly two months after Ireland's Cian O'Connor decided not to appeal his disqualification in a doping case
O'Connor won the event, but forfeited the medal when his horse, Waterford Crystal, failed a drug test.
"It is a great honour to receive this medal in my country" Pessoa said at a ceremony held on Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana Beach. "I am happy for having conquered this medal for which I worked so hard . . . and I hope the medal will serve as an inspiration to other Brazilian show jumpers."
The ceremony was presided over by Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee, and Carlos Arthur Nuzman, president of the Brazilian Olympic Committee.
Because of O'Connor's disqualification, American Chris Kappler moved up to the silver medal and Germany's Marco Kutscher got the bronze.
