Geir Helgemo

Norwegian bridge player

Geir Helgemo (born 14 February 1970)

Helgemo was born in Vinstra, Norway. For several years through 1994 he represented Norway on both its junior and open teams. The juniors won the 1990 European Championship and both teams finished second in the 1993 World Championships. From that time Helgemo played with Tor Helness on the open team, which was always strong and won another world silver medal in 2001.

Helgemo's team reported a false score (claiming a match was played when it was not to the benefit of both teams) in a match in Norway. All players involved were suspended by the Norwegian Bridge Federation. Three of the players involved, Terje Aa (ACBL # 9027661), Geir Helgemo (ACBL # 4036808) and Jørgen Molberg (ACBL # 8896631) were members of the American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) and were suspended by the ACBL.

On 1 March 2019, at which time Helgemo was the world's highest ranked player, the World Bridge Federation (WBF) announced that he had been suspended for a year after testing positive for two banned substances in a sample he had provided at the World Bridge Series in Orlando in September 2018: clomifene and synthetic testosterone. The drugs were said to be "not performance enhancing" by Kari Anne Opsal, the president of the Norwegian Bridge Federation. The WBF is recognised by the International Olympic Committee and therefore follows the World Anti Doping Agency's rules on which drugs are permissible. The ban, backdated to begin when he accepted a provisional suspension, is due to expire on 20 November 2019. A spokesperson for the Monaco Bridge Federation said: "We regret that a talent such as Geir Helgemo is sanctioned under an anti doping regulation that is certainly adapted to physical sport but totally unsuitable for brain sport."