Filip Meirhaeghe

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Olympic medal record
Men's Cycling
Silver Sydney 2000 Cross-Country Mountainbike

Filip Meirhaeghe (born March 5, 1971) is a Belgian cyclist. His primary focus was in mountain bike racing, however, he has also taken part in elite road, cyclo-cross and track cycling. He has won four Mountain Bike World Championships medals, one Olympic medal and a total of 11 World Cup events. In the final years of his racing career he raced for the bicycle manufacturer Specialized Bicycle Components on the mountain bike and for the professional team Domina Vacanze-Elitron on the road.

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[edit] Positive test results

On July 29, 2004, just before the 2004 Summer Olympics, Meirhaeghe admitted to have used EPO. He tested positive during the World Cup in Mont Sainte-Anne, Quebec (Canada) 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 Olympic Games in Athens . He also announced at that time he would stop racing and retire. 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 - Dutch only).

[edit] End of retirement

Filip was suspended from professional racing based on his positive test result until Jan 14, 2006. On January 1, 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 come back during the beachrace of Oostduinkerke (Belgium).[1]

[edit] Major racing achievements

  • European XC MTB Championships
    • Champion: 2000
  • Belgian XC MTB Championships
    • Champion: 1996, 1998, 2000, 2001
  • Belgian Downhill National Championships
    • Champion 1994

[edit] External links

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