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. 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. 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. The reigning World Champion, Dermott Lennon of Ireland, did not compete due to an injury to his horse, Liscalgot. Other notable absences included Marcus Ehning (also due to equine injury) and Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum (positive doping test), both of Germany. Despite those absences, Germany still had a strong team (sweeping the podium at the European championships). Rodrigo Pessoa was among the favorites, as he had been in 2000 before refusals derailed his final round ride in Sydney.