Canada's Eric Lamaze, riding Hickstead, won the individual jumping gold medal Thursday in a dramatic jump-off in searing heat and humidity as Hong Kong waited for Typhoon Nuri to make a direct hit.

In a final day of Olympic equestrianism marred by a doping scandal, Lamaze jumped a clear round to snatch gold from Sweden's Rolf-Goran Bengtsson and his horse Ninja, who picked up four faults in their race against the clock.

It is Canada's first ever individual jumping gold medal.

The two riders finished their jump-off in exactly the same time of 38.39 seconds.

Beezie Madden took the bronze medal for the USA after she and her horse beat six opponents against the clock.

She jumped a clear round in 35.25 seconds, to take the third spot from the world's number one, Germany's Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum, who finished a disappointing Olympics with a round of 35.37 seconds.

The event, however, was overshadowed by a doping scandal with four riders -- Bernardo Alves of Brazil, Christian Ahlmann of Germany, Denis Lynch of Ireland and Tony Andre Hansen of Norway -- all banned from competing after their horses tested positive for a banned substance.

The scandal threw doubt on the medal order of the team jumping competition earlier in the week, in which Norway won a bronze medal, its first ever placing in an Olympics equestrian event.

The detected substance, according to the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) which controls horse sports, was capsaicin, that can cause hypersensitivity and relieve pain.

Norway's Djupvik Morten said his "devastated" teammate Hansen would fight his ban if the B-sample returned positive.

Lynch said he had used a linement containing capsaicin on his horse to warm its muscles during training without knowing it was banned.

Thursday's medal is Canada's second at these Olympics after they came second to the US in the team jumping event -- also after a dramatic jump-off.

Conditions for the final jumping round were among the most challenging the riders have faced throughout these Games events, as the Hong Kong Observatory prepared to raise to number eight the typhoon warning signal.

Some riders complained of the heat and humidity after completing their rounds, including Bengtsson who said after first qualifying round that his horse was feeling tired.

Lamaze's victory seals his place at the top of world show jumping, a position that was jeopardised in the mid-nineties by drugs scandals.

He missed the Atlanta Games in 1996 after testing positive for cocaine and was dropped from his national team.

He was barred from Sydney in 2000, also over drug use, but a lifetime ban was lifted and he was able to return to competition.

As he stood on the podium in the middle of the Shatin arena, he shed a tear while watching the Canadian maple leaf flag being hoisted.

"This has been my dream, now it's a reality," he said later.

"If this doesn't make people forgive me and stop talking about all that, I don't know what will."

The dramatic showdown with his Swedish rival was the first time the individual show jumping had come to a jump-off, the result of rule changes introduced by the FEI to ensure victory to the best rider of the day.

Penalties from earlier rounds were not carried into the final.

Hong Kong's Olympics had been on course for great success until the doping scandal erupted.

The FEI's policy of preventing riders from competing, rather than disqualification later, meant the summary suspension of the four riders as soon as testing results were returned positive.

It said in a statement it had received the positive A-samples on August 20 and 21, and expected the B-sample results in seven days.

A tribunal would be held with the following week, with a decision within the following 28 days, by the first week in October at the latest.

AFP

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