Equine Canada announced on Aug. 30 that the Fédération Equestre Internationale was investigating a positive sample from Canadian show jumper Jonathon Millar taken during a routine competition drug test.         

As is FEI standard procedure, Millar has been placed on a provisional suspension while the matter is investigated. He will participate in a provisional FEI hearing at a date to be set shortly.

The Millar family released a statement on Aug. 30 stating: “Jonathon has been bravely battling a serious medical condition as a result of his body’s inability to produce a certain essential hormone which our bodies normally and naturally produce. He suffers from a metabolic deficiency. As a result, any drug test would be abnormal. As a family we have been giving Jonathon all the support and encouragement that you would expect from a close family such as ours, to give him the strength and hope to overcome this illness. We are extremely proud of how Jonathon has looked adversity in the eye and worked tirelessly to overcome this adversity rather than surrender to it.

“We are currently waiting for the necessary documentation to assist us in understanding the current problem, and as a result we will not be making any further comment at this time other than to state emphatically, that this has absolutely nothing to do with performance enhancement, cheating or illegal substances, but rather is directly related to Jonathon’s illness and metabolic deficiency.”

The FEI’s Anti-Doping Rules for Human Athletes prohibit national equestrian federations from publicly commenting on the specific facts of a pending case.

“Jonathon is one of the gentlemen of our sport, and he has been co-operating fully with us,” said Akaash Maharaj, Chief Executive Officer of Equine Canada and the Canadian Equestrian Team. “Our first responsibility is to protect the integrity of the sport system, by upholding both the [World Anti-Doping Agency] code and the athlete’s right to a fair and impartial hearing. Accordingly, we are working closely with Jonathon and with the FEI to ensure that all the facts are made available during the hearings, to bring this matter to a just conclusion without delay.”