While awaiting the outcome of the B sample test on his horse, Cian O'Connor will face many more questions, writes Grania Willis, Equestrian Correspondent.
The equestrian world, united in celebration at the end of August when Cian O'Connor brought the first ever Olympic equestrian gold medal home to Ireland, has been rent asunder by the events of the last few days.
Following news that two of his horses have tested positive to banned substances, including his Olympic ride, Waterford Crystal, the golden boy has been alternately pilloried or supported by the different parts of a house more accustomed to division than harmony.
There has been a groundswell of popular opinion that an Olympic gold medallist - particularly one who provided such a sensational finish to an otherwise desperate Games for the Republic - could not be involved in the dirty practice of horse doping.
But there are others keen to jump on the bandwagon and knock Cian O'Connor now that he has been so ignominiously toppled from the vertiginous pedestal that Ireland - en masse - lifted him onto after that dramatic night in the Markopoulo equestrian centre outside Athens.
The doping allegations are bad enough. But now that O'Connor has been reduced from iconic status to mere mortal, the bad-mouthers have come out in force to kick the fallen hero while he's down.
Rumours of endemic cruelty on the show jumping circuit were growing with every minute yesterday, as Cian O'Connor and his vet, Mr James Sheeran, were grilled by the media, not just on the drugs issue, but on the even more damaging topic of rapping.
Despite Mr Sheeran's protestations that he didn't know anything about "rapping", virtually everyone involved in the sport of show jumping is aware that there are individuals who aren't prepared to rely just on their horse's natural talents to clear a fence.
Rapping, in its most innocuous form, involves the use of a solid pole - sometimes metal - that is raised just as the horse is jumping a practice fence. The horse has measured the height he needs to jump to clear the fence, but the rapping pole is lifted to connect smartly with the horse's shins.
That hurts and the horse, wanting to avoid further pain, will jump higher next time.
But rapping can be far more sinister, with sensitising agents used on the horse's legs so that hitting a pole is even more agonising.
The last international rapping case involved American rider McLain Ward, who was suspended after being caught rapping a horse at the German Nations Cup show in Aachen.
In another high-profile case, the entire Argentinian show jumping team was disqualified from the 1996 Olympics after it was found rapping horses at its training grounds outside Atlanta.
Cian O'Connor was quick to point out yesterday that there has never been a charge of rapping levelled against him, and the International Equestrian Federation also stated that there have been no rapping cases taken against any Irish rider, nor are there any pending.
But Cian O'Connor's detractors, possibly motivated by jealousy, will not let the issue die.
If the 24-year-old is stripped of his Olympic gold when the results of the B sample analysis are released in a couple of weeks' time, will that be enough to sate the appetites of the ghouls hovering on the sidelines, or will the witch-hunt continue?
Undoubtedly, Cian O'Connor has a committed band of supporters but, in the dog eat dog world of international show jumping, he also has his share of enemies.
The division of Irish show jumping ranks over Eddie Macken's appointment, sacking and subsequent reinstatement as team trainer was aired in the national media in the build-up to the Athens Games. It is no secret that Cian O'Connor was one of the few dissenting voices among a team that was otherwise clamouring for Mr Macken's expertise.
Tommy Wade, who was ousted as chef d'equipe in the fallout from the Macken row, has been a loyal supporter of Cian O'Connor for some time.
But Mr Wade too has his critics and Cian O'Connor's allegiance with the abrasive Tipperary man would not have endeared him to members of the Macken camp.
In fairness to Mr Macken, he was one of the first to offer congratulations to Cian O'Connor after his gold medal triumph.
But there is no doubt that there are still festering sores within the show jumping world set to burst forth.
O'Connor's press statement last Friday in which he denied any wrongdoing earned him great kudos in many quarters. But it raised more questions than it answered in many ways, chief of which was why did the statement not name the banned substance or substances found in Waterford Crystal's A sample.
Sunday night's revelation that another of his horses had also tested positive to the same substance back in May raised another important question.
Why were details of this second positive test, which Cian O'Connor knew about last Thursday afternoon, not included in Friday's statement?
And was Sunday's confession on RTÉ a pre-emptive strike before the print media got hold of the story and ran with it on Monday morning?
Cian O'Connor will have to face many more interviews before this story dies, particularly if Waterford Crystal's B sample confirms the positive analysis.
The Co Kildare rider is facing not just an uphill struggle, but a near insurmountable cliff-face as he bids to clear his name.