Filip Meirhaeghe

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Filip Meirhaeghe
Personal information
Full name Filip Meirhaeghe
Date of birth March 5, 1971 (1971-03-05) (age 37)
Country Flag of Belgium Belgium
Team information
Current team Landbouwkrediet-Tönissteiner
Discipline Road, Mountain bike
Role Rider
Major wins
Silver medal 2000 Summer Olympics (Mountain bike)
UCI MTB Cross Country World Championship (2003)
UCI Mountain Bike World Cup (2002)
Infobox last updated on:
January 2, 2008
Medal record
Competitor for Flag of Belgium Belgium
Mountain bike racing
Olympic Games
Silver Sydney 2000 Cross-Country
World Championships
Gold Lugano 2003 Cross-Country
Silver Kaprun 2002 Cross-Country
Bronze Mont Sainte-Anne 1998 Cross-Country
Bronze Åre 1999 Cross-Country

Filip Meirhaeghe (born March 5, 1971 in Ghent) is a Belgian racing 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 eleven mountain bike 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.

Contents

[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 January 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 beach-race 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] See also


[edit] External links

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Riders on Landbouwkrediet-Tönissteiner

Frédéric Amorison | Dirk Bellemakers | David Boucher | Andy Cappelle | Ed Clancy | Bert De Waele | Sébastien Delfosse | Benjamin Gourgue | Steven Kleynen | Jan Kuyckx | Paul Manning | Filip Meirhaeghe | Kevin Neirynck | Sven Nys | Rob Peeters | Bert Scheirlinckx | Nico Sijmens | Ian Stannard | Tom Steels | Wouter Van Mechelen | Manager: Gérard Bulens