LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP)

Norwegian rider Tony Andre Hansen was stripped of his Olympic bronze medal in team jumping yesterday after his horse tested positive for a banned drug at the Beijing Games.

Hansen was disqualified by the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) and banned from the sport for 4.5 months.

The 29-year-old Hansen was the best performer in a four-rider Norway team which won bronze under a scoring system where the top three count.

Completely wrong

"We believe this judgement is completely wrong," Hansen told Norwegian website VG Nett. "The judgement didn't come as a shock, but it seems clear that we will take this matter further."

Without his scores, his Norway teammates - Morten Djupvik, Stein Endresen, and Geir Gulliksen - drop out of medal contention.

The fourth-place Switzerland team of Steve Guerdat, Christina Liebherr, Niklaus Schurtenberger and Pius Schwizer will now be awarded the bronze medals by the International Olympic Committee.

The United States won gold, beating Canada in a jump-off in Hong Kong where the equestrian events were staged last August.

Hansen's horse, Camiro, tested positive for capsaicin, a banned pain-relieving medication derived from chilli peppers.

"This is just the first round. We're not surprised, but we are very disappointed," said Morten Steenstrup, Hansen's lawyer.

Steenstrup added that the traces of capsaicin were so small that "it hasn't had any performance-enhancing effect".

Hansen was provisionally suspended and did not complete the individual jumping competition. His ban was backdated and runs through January 2, 2009.

"(It is each person's) duty to ensure that no prohibited substance is present in his or her horse's body during an event," the FEI said.

Impeccable record

The FEI described Hansen as an experienced sportsman with an impeccable record who would suffer the hardship of losing an Olympic medal.

However, the FEI added that "the behaviour of anyone at the top of the sport and particularly at the Olympic Games must be faultless."

Hansen faced two daylong hearings, in September and November, at an FEI tribunal before the governing body reached its verdict. The tribunal said Hansen didn't explain how capsaicin came to be present in his horse.

Although the drug can be used out of competition as a legal medication, it is also classed as a doping substance if used to inflame a horse's legs. This is done to encourage horses to jump higher because striking an obstacle becomes more painful.