Beijing Olympic champion Eric Lamaze ended his career in 2022 due to a brain tumor diagnosed in 2017. Now it turns out that the show jumper only faked his illness.
Lamaze made the decision to end his career with great regret, the 55-year-old wrote on his homepage about a year ago: “My health is forcing me to take this step more than I had hoped.” But apparently Lamaze just invented his cancer.
Several lawsuits have been running against the Canadian for years. He is said to have repeatedly sold horses at inflated prices and not adhered to business agreements. Horse owners from the USA and Canada accused Lamaze of fraudulent business practices and took legal action against the riding star.
Lamaze presents fake certificates
But the process dragged on for years because Lamaze repeatedly presented health documents that dragged out the negotiations.
The show jumper told the court in 2019 that he had a brain tumor. This was already diagnosed in 2017. In 2023 he also claimed that he had spread cancer and that he was now also suffering from throat cancer. It is therefore impossible to take part in the ongoing trials against him.
But doubts arose about the medical certificates. A court in Ontario has now found that the documents were forged. The judge accused Lamaze of “serious misconduct” and “contempt of court.”
The fraud was noticed due to a simple mistake. The certificates that Lamaze presented to the court were written in Dutch. The doctor who is supposed to have issued the document does not speak this language at all.
“I did not write this document and, above all, I do not know the patient in question,” the doctor also confirmed.
Positive cocaine sample at Lamaze
Riding his dark brown stallion Hickstead, who was considered one of the best show jumpers in the world at the time, Lamaze won gold at the 2008 Olympic Equestrian Games in Hong Kong. In 2010, Lamaze won the Aachen Grand Prix with Hickstead.
In 1996, Lamaze tested positive for cocaine. The rider, who comes from a difficult background, explained this with psychological problems. The four-year ban was then shortened by the Canadian Equestrian Federation.