The individual show jumping event, part of the equestrian program at the 2004 Summer Olympics, was held from 22 to 27 August 2004 in the Olympic Equestrian Centre on the outskirts of Markopoulo in the Attica region of Greece. Like all other equestrian events, the jumping competition was mixed gender, with both male and female athletes competing in the same division. There were 77 competitors from 27 nations. Each nation could send up to 4 riders. Cian O'Connor of Ireland initially received the gold medal, but that medal was stripped from him due to doping. After his disqualification, the event was won by Rodrigo Pessoa of Brazil, the nation's first medal in individual jumping. Silver went to Chris Kappler of the United States, with bronze to Marco Kutscher of Germany. Doping test On 8 October 2004, the International Federation for Equestrian Sports (FEI) announced that the A-samples from four Olympic horses had failed doping control, and the Equestrian Federation of Ireland said one of these was Cian O'Connor's horse, Waterford Crystal. The urine B-sample went missing en route to a testing laboratory, prompting a flurry of media interest. On 9 November, testing of the blood B-sample confirmed traces of fluphenazine and zuclopenthixol. On 27 March 2005, the FEI gave a ruling disqualifying O'Connor and banning him from competition for three months, while accepting his contention that the drugs were administered by a vet as part of a sedative for a leg injury and were not with intent to enhance performance. O'Connor decided not to appeal and began his suspension on 11 April 2005. He was formally stripped of his medal at the end of the appeal window, on 3 July 2005. Rodrigo Pessoa was presented with his gold medal in August 2005 at a ceremony on Copacabana Beach. Background This was the 22nd appearance of the event, which had first been held at the 1900 Summer Olympics and has been held at every Summer Olympics at which equestrian sports have been featured (that is, excluding 1896, 1904, and 1908). It is the oldest event on the current programme, the only one that was held in 1900. Three of the top 12 riders (including ties for 10th place) from the 2000 Games returned: fourth-place finishers Ludo Philippaerts of Belgium and Otto Becker of Germany and tenth-place finisher Thomas Velin of Denmark. 1992 Olympic gold medalist Ludger Beerbaum of Germany also returned.