Filip Meirhaeghe
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Filip Meirhaeghe (born 5 March 1971"Rider Profile: Filip Meiraeghe"
''cyclingnews.com''. Retrieved 19 December 2010.
in
Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded in ...
) is a retired
Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...
racing cyclist Cycle sport is Competition, competitive physical activity using bicycles. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, track cycling, BMX, and cycle speedway. Non-racing ...
. His primary focus was in
mountain bike racing Mountain bike racing (shortened MTB or ATB racing) is the competitive cycle sport discipline of mountain biking held on off-road terrain. The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) recognised the discipline relatively late in 1990, when it sanctioned ...
, however, he has also taken part in elite
road A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...
, cyclo-cross and
track cycling Track cycling is a bicycle racing sport usually held on specially built banked tracks or velodromes using purpose-designed track bicycles. History Track cycling has been around since at least 1870. When track cycling was in its infancy, it wa ...
. He has won four Mountain Bike World Championships medals, one Olympic medal and a total of eleven
mountain bike World Cup The UCI Mountain Bike World Cup is a multi-round mountain bike racing series that is sanctioned by the Union Cycliste Internationale. The first World Cup series – which was composed of cross-country events – was held in 1989. The Downhill Wo ...
events. In the final years of his racing career he raced for the bicycle manufacturer
Specialized Bicycle Components Specialized Bicycle Components, Inc., colloquially known as and stylized as SPECIALIZED, is an American company which designs, manufactures and markets bicycles, bicycle components and related products under the brand name "Specialized", as wel ...
on the mountain bike and for the professional team Domina Vacanze-Elitron on the road.


Doping

On 29 July 2004, just before the Athens
2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...
, Meirhaeghe admitted to having used EPO. He tested positive during the
World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...
in Mont Sainte-Anne, Quebec (
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
) and unlike most racers did not argue the validity of the test. During a press conference he admitted he used EPO simply because of his desire to win gold at the Olympics. He also announced at that time he would stop racing and retire."Meirhaeghe tests positive, admits guilt, retires"
''VeloNews''. 29 July 2004. Retrieved 19 December 2010.
He wrote a book called ''Positief'', which tells the story of his life as an athlete and the consequences of his positive test. (issued by
Davidsfonds The Davidsfonds is a Catholic organisation in Flanders, Belgium with the purpose of promoting the Flemish culture in the areas of literature, history and art. The Davidsfonds was founded in Leuven, Belgium on 15 January 1875, with the motto ''Voor ...
– in Dutch only).


End of retirement

Filip was suspended from professional racing until 14 January 2006 based on his positive test result. On 1 January 2006, he announced he would resume racing. He signed a three-year contract to race for Landbouwkrediet-Colnago on the road and Versluys-Landbouwkrediet-Sportstech on mountain bikes. He made his comeback during the beach-race of
Oostduinkerke Oostduinkerke (; french: Ostdunkerque ; vls, Ôostduunkerke) is a place in the Belgian province of West Flanders, where it is located on the southern west coast of Belgium. Once a municipality of its own, Oostduinkerke now is a sub-municipalit ...
(
Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
). He retired again in September 2009.George, Sue
"Meirhaeghe retires effective immediately"
''cyclingnews.com''. 10 September 2009. Retrieved 19 December 2010.


Major racing achievements

*
2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...
** Silver: 2000 – Sydney (AUS) * Mountain Bike World Championships ** Gold: 2003 – Lugano (SUI) ** Silver: 2002 – Kaprun (AUT) ** Bronze: 1998 – Mont Sainte-Anne (CAN) ** Bronze: 1999 – Åre (SWE) *
Mountain Bike World Cup The UCI Mountain Bike World Cup is a multi-round mountain bike racing series that is sanctioned by the Union Cycliste Internationale. The first World Cup series – which was composed of cross-country events – was held in 1989. The Downhill Wo ...
** Winner: 2002 * European XC MTB Championships ** Champion: 2000 * Belgian XC MTB Championships ** Champion: 1996, 1998, 2000, 2001 * Belgian Downhill National Championships ** Champion 1994 *
Paris–Roubaix Paris–Roubaix is a one-day professional bicycle road race in northern France, starting north of Paris and finishing in Roubaix, at the border with Belgium. It is one of cycling's oldest races, and is one of the 'Monuments' or classics of the ...
mountain bike ** Winner: 1997, 2002


See also

*
List of doping cases in cycling The following is an incomplete list of doping cases and recurring accusations of doping in professional cycling, where doping means "use of physiological substances or abnormal method to obtain an artificial increase of performance." It is neither ...
*
List of sportspeople sanctioned for doping offences The following is an incomplete list of sportspeople who have been involved in doping offences. It contains those who have been found to have, or have admitted to having, taken illegal performance-enhancing drugs, prohibited recreational drugs or ...


References


External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Meirhaeghe, Filip 1971 births Living people Belgian male cyclists Cross-country mountain bikers Olympic cyclists of Belgium Olympic silver medalists for Belgium Cyclists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Ghent Cyclists from East Flanders Doping cases in cycling Olympic medalists in cycling UCI Mountain Bike World Champions (men) Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics