Lotte Kopecky's dream of olympic gold in shambles as her madison partner Shari Bossuyt tests positive for banned substance

Last week we learnt that Shari Bossuyt tested positive for banned product letrozole metabolite. That was not only really bad news to Bossuyt himself, but also for Lotte Kopecky. The latter dreams of a medal at the Olympic Games in Paris 2024, but sees those chances dwindling now that her teammate is in danger of being suspended from doing madison with Kopecky.

After her positive test, Bossuyt was put on hold by her employer Canyon SRAM//Racing. The procedure, in which Bossuyt has to explain to the AFLD how letrozole metabolite ended up in her body, is still ongoing. However, there is a chance that she won't be able to race for a long time and will also have to miss the 2024 Olympics. Based on the performances over the past few years, the Bossuyt-Kopecky duo had a serious chance of winning gold at the madison in Paris.

Frederik Broché, the technical director of the Belgian cycling federation, acknowledges that the chance of winning a medal will be much smaller if Bossuyt does not participate. “We must not be naive. If Bossuyt is not there, we have to draw a line through those medal chances," he says in interview with Het Laatste Nieuws.

Moreover, in case Bossuyt is eventually suspended, the two will be scraped off of the points the two gathered at the end of April in Canada and Belgium might not qualify for the event at all.