Austrians
admit to 'illegal methods'
Last Updated:
Thu Feb 23 04:04:26 EST 2006
CBC Sports
The president
of the Austrian ski federation revealed that two athletes "may have
used illegal methods" at the Torino Olympic Winter Games.
Federation president
Peter Schroecksnadel told reporters Tuesday that Wolfgang Perner and
Wolfgang Rottman, both of whom fled Italy when the team's Olympic
residences were raided by local police last Sunday evening, confessed
to sports director Markus Gandler.
Schroecksnadel
did not elaborate, noting only that the skiers have been kicked off
the national team and that a commission is being set up to investigate.
"Team Austria is a small group and we live in close proximity to each
other," said biathlete Ludwig Gredler, who has competed in five Olympics.
"But naturally, I cannot know what happens in other rooms.
"I know I am clean
and have taken nothing. But I cannot speak for my teammates." Police
reportedly seized 100 syringes, unlabelled medicine bottles, boxes
of prescription drugs, and even a blood-transfusion machine in the
anti-doping raid, the first on athletes in Olympic history.
The Carabinieri
were tipped off by the World Anti-Doping Agency, which learned that
suspended Austrian coach Walter Mayer was with the team, having rented
a chalet in the mountain hamlet of nearby Pragelato.
Mayer coached
Austria's cross-country squad to its first-ever medals in nordic skiing
at the 1998 Nagano Olympics, to gold in the relay at the 1999 worlds
and two more medals at the Salt Lake Games in 2002.
But after blood-transfusion
equipment was found in a chalet at those Olympics, Mayer was banned
for life by the International Ski Federation (FIS).
That was eventually
lowered to 10 years, in 2005.
Austrian spokesman
Eric Wagner confirmed that Mayer attended the Torino Games in a private
capacity and was in touch with the team the day before the raid.
In a strange twist,
Mayer tried to commit suicide by smashing into a police roadblock
as he tried to elude authorities in the Austrian town of Paternion,
about 24 kilometres from the Italian border, and was later admitted
to a psychiatric hospital. "I was completely shattered, I couldn't
think clearly," Mayer was quoted as saying in News, a weekly Austrian
magazine. "When something like that happens to you, you're in an extraordinary
mental situation. "I wanted to take my own life because my world had
been destroyed. I wanted to end my life with the car."
Mayer, who was
subsequently fired as coach, claimed he "had no medical equipment
with me. I had done nothing and was suddenly suspected and being searched
for in another country. "It was only a private trip. The only thing
that was in the car was my brother's tool for electrical repairs,
nothing else."
"It is indeed
a saga," International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge said.
"Not even Hollywood could come up with a scenario like it."
Rogge confirmed
that the IOC is setting up an investigatory panel at the conclusion
of the Torino Olympics and might sanction members of the Austrian
nordic ski team whether they test positive for banned substances or
not. "To find somebody guilty of doping you don't necessarily need
urine and blood samples," Rogge noted. "It can also be based on circumstantial
evidence."
Samples of 10
Austrian Olympians, six cross-country skiers and four biathletes,
taken last weekend are still being analyzed. "Analysis done by a lab
is something that needs to be done very thoroughly," IOC spokeswoman
Giselle Davies stated. "They are testing against the full range of
prohibited substances, including EPO.
"This can take
time. It's not unusual."
The Austrian doping
scandal could impact Salzburg's bid to host 2014 Winter Games.
with files from
Canadian Press
Still
no results of Austrian tests; ski chief meets with prosecutor
23/02/2006 7:24:00
AM
TURIN, Italy (AP)
- The doping samples from 10 members of Austria's Nordic ski team
were still being analyzed Thursday, five days after the athletes were
targeted for surprise, out-of-competition tests.
Meanwhile, Austria's
ski federation president met with Italian prosecutors to discuss the
scandal centring on the team's links with banned coach Walter Mayer.
The International Olympic Committee insisted there was nothing unusual
in the apparent delay in getting the test results, ruling out any
conspiracy and saying more time was needed to check for the blood-boosting
drug EPO.
"The laboratory
analysis is still ongoing," IOC spokeswoman Giselle Davies said at
her daily news briefing. "It just takes this long sometimes, and that's
the bottom line."
Six Austrian cross-country
skiers and four biathletes were rousted from their private living
quarters late Saturday for unannounced tests. At the same time, Italian
police raided the lodgings and seized blood transfusion equipment
and other materials linked to Mayer.
Austrian ski federation
chief Peter Schroecksnadel was meeting with prosecutors at Turin's
main judicial offices, said Giampaolo Zancan, a high-profile Italian
lawyer hired by the Austrians. "He is meeting prosecutors as a witness,"
Zancan told The Associated Press. "I accompanied him and left him
there, because as a witness he doesn't need a lawyer with him."
Davies earlier
this week indicated the drug-test results would be known within 72
hours, but that time passed without any announcement. "It's not a
specific deadline," she said Thursday. "Testing can take time. It's
a thorough analysis for all the prohibited substances, including EPO.
This can take a number of days. It's absolutely standard, normal procedure."
Davies dismissed
suggestions the results were being withheld.
"You shouldn't
read anything more into it," she said. "There are a number of conspiracy
theories floating around, not based on any factual information. The
technicians must be given time to do their work. It's not a straightforward
process. That's it."
Davies said she
expects the results to be in by the end of the Games on Sunday night.
"One would imagine we should have tests back before the Games are
over," she said.
Davies said the
release of the results had nothing to do with the separate Italian
criminal inquiry into the Austrian case. "There is no link whatsoever,"
she said. "They are two separate issues."
Davies also dismissed
comparisons with the doping case of Russian biathlon star Olga Pyleva,
who was kicked out of the Games last week and stripped of her silver
medal - just three days after having a drug test that revealed a banned
stimulant. "It's inappropriate to make comparisons with another case
for a different substance in a different time period," Davies said.
"The laboratory is doing its work according to its time frame."
The IOC welcomed
Wednesday's announcement by the Austrian Olympic Committee that it
has formed a commission to investigate the scandal. The Austrians
said they had to move quickly to avoid punishment from the IOC, including
a possible ban. "There's no pressure being put by the IOC," Davies
said. "We welcome the inquiry commission set up the Austrians. It
will help shed light on the situation."
The IOC will set
up a special commission to investigate the whole case, a probe which
will cover Austria's Olympic committee, ski federation, athletes and
coaches. IOC president Jacques Rogge said the body could sanction
the Austrians even without any athletes testing positive for banned
substances.
Banned
Austrian coach says he 'had no medical equipment'
22/02/2006 7:48:00
PM
SESTRIERE, Italy
(AP) - The disgraced Austrian ski coach who ignited a doping scandal
at the Turin Games insists he had no medical equipment and says he
is so "shattered" by the episode that he tried to kill himself by
crashing into a police roadblock.
"I was completely
shattered, I couldn't think clearly. When something like that happens
to you, you are in an extraordinary mental situation. I wanted to
take my own life, because my world had been destroyed. I wanted to
end my life with the car," Walter Mayer told an Austrian weekly news
magazine.
Mayer's presence
among Austria's biathletes and cross-country skiers at the Olympics
set off police raids and intense scrutiny from the IOC. But Mayer
- banned from the Olympics for links to blood doping in 2002 - insisted
he was on a personal trip to watch his team compete in the Olympics.
International
Olympic Committee medical officials met with Italian prosecutors Wednesday
in Turin to discuss the Austrian scandal and another doping case at
the Olympics: that of Russian biathlon star Olga Pyleva, stripped
of her silver medal last week for using a banned stimulant.
Meanwhile, the
Olympic drug-testing lab was still analyzing samples taken from 10
Austrian biathletes and cross-country skiers in last weekend's raids
on athletes' housing. IOC spokeswoman Giselle Davies said the results
should be known by the end of the Games on Sunday.
The head of the
Austrian ski federation said Tuesday that two athletes admitted they
"may have used illegal methods" at the Winter Games. They have since
been dropped from the team for bolting early after the unprecedented
sweep.
Police seized
unlabelled drugs, a blood transfusion machine and dozens of syringes
in the surprise raids late Saturday. Investigators said they later
found more syringes in Mayer's rented living quarters, two days after
he left the area.
The Austrian Olympic
Committee announced Wednesday it had formed a commission to investigate
the doping scandal, warning it had to move quickly to avoid punishment
for one of the leading Winter Games nations - including a possible
ban.
NEWS, an Austrian
news weekly, reported that Mayer panicked when he heard on the radio
he was being sought by police after fleeing the Italian Alps after
the raids. The magazine quoted Mayer as saying he became suicidal
when he saw a police roadblock shortly after crossing the border into
Austria. "I had done nothing and was suddenly suspected and being
searched for in another country," he said. "It was only a private
trip. The only thing that was in the car was my brother's tool for
electrical repairs. Nothing else."
Mayer's lawyer,
Herwig Hasslacher, also denied the coach had any link to doping. "My
client did not have anything illegal with him," Hasslacher told Austrian
TV network ORF. "He didn't have any banned substances with him, he
didn't have any syringes."
IOC medical commission
chief Arne Ljungqvist and medical director Patrick Schamasch met with
a prosecutor at Turin's judicial headquarters for "discussion regarding
the doping issues of the last week," Davies said.
The IOC said it
will set up a special panel to investigate the Austrian Olympic committee,
ski federation, athletes and coaches, likely after the Olympics end.
IOC president Jacques Rogge said the body could sanction the Austrians
even without any athletes testing positive for banned substances.
The scandal could
hurt Austria's bid to host the 2014 Winter Olympics. Salzburg is considered
one of the favourites among the seven cities bidding for those games.
The host city will be selected in July 2007 at an IOC meeting in Guatemala
City.
Heinz Jungwirth,
general secretary of the Austrian Olympic Committee, told ORF his
nation risks a ban if it does not get to the bottom of the scandal.
"The need to probe this case to the end is extremely high. There is
enormous pressure from the IOC," Jungwirth said. "We have to show
the IOC that things will be cleared up."
AP sportswriters
Naomi Koppel, Ariel David and Stephen Wilson in Turin contributed
to this report.
Austrian
ski official says two athletes 'may have used illegal methods'
21/02/2006 6:38:00
PM
TURIN, Italy (AP)
- The scandal surrounding a disgraced Austrian ski coach deepened
Tuesday as team officials said two Olympic athletes may have engaged
in "illegal methods" and potentially damaging new details emerged
about what was seized in a surprise raid on the team's living quarters.
The saga unfolded
as Austrian ski officials faced mounting evidence that banned ski
coach Walter Mayer may have brought a major doping scandal upon them.
It was revealed that evidence seized in the weekend raids included
unlabelled drugs, a blood transfusion machine and dozens of syringes,
including some in Mayer's residence.
And Austrian ski
federation president Peter Schroecksnadel said that two athletes who
bolted the Games after the raids had confessed to a team official
that they "may have used illegal methods." He did not elaborate but
said the federation was setting up a commission to investigate.
Schroecksnadel
also acknowledged that it was "a mistake" for the team to ever have
allowed Mayer to coach in a private capacity at the Turin Games, which
are taking place against the backdrop of the most rigorous drug controls
in Winter Olympic history.
Meanwhile, International
Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge said the IOC will set up
a disciplinary commission, probably after the Turin Games, to investigate
the doping suspicions.
The unprecedented
investigation was triggered when Olympic officials found that Mayer
was at the Games. He was banned from the Olympics for links to blood
doping in 2002 in Salt Lake City.
After the initial
weekend raids, investigators returned to Mayer's quarters and found
more syringes. An Italian prosecutor found the additional evidence
Monday night when he inspected the private home that Mayer had rented
for the Olympics in the mountain hamlet of Pragelato, said Mario Pescante,
an IOC member and government supervisor for the Games.
On Tuesday morning,
Schroecksnadel said he was incensed by the scrutiny from the World
Anti-Doping Agency, the IOC and the Carbinieri paramilitary police,
saying the investigation was "no longer about sport, it's just about
rumours."
But by evening,
Schroecksnadel had softened his indignation and said that the two
Olympic athletes may have broken the rules.
Wolfgang Perner
and Wolfgang Rottmann, since kicked off the team for leaving the Games
early, made the statement to Markus Gandler, the team's sports director,
Schroecksnadel said at a news conference in the Alpine village of
Sestriere.
In a series of
raids conducted late Saturday on team housing in Pragelato and nearby
San Sicario, police seized about 100 syringes, unlabelled medicine
bottles, boxes of prescription drugs and a blood-transfusion machine,
a person with direct knowledge of the investigation told The Associated
Press on Tuesday. The source asked not to be identified because the
investigation was ongoing.
Blood doping transfusions
can be used to increase oxygen levels in the blood, which increases
endurance. The source said, however, that no blood was found along
with the device. Prescription drugs seized in the raid carried warning
labels saying they contained banned substances, but the source said
at least some members of the team had prescriptions for those.
The seized materials
were still being analyzed by Italian authorities, but no test results
were announced as of Tuesday. Six skiers and four biathletes were
also taken for drug screens by the IOC as a part of the raid, and
the IOC had not yet announced results of those tests.
Five-time Olympian
Ludwig Gredler, a member of Austria's biathlon team, said the team
has no choice but submit to the searches. "These are the laws of Italy
and we have to follow them," he said. "Team Austria is a small group
and we live in close proximity to each other, but naturally I can't
know what happens in other rooms. I know I'm clean and have taken
nothing, but I can't speak for my teammates."
Mayer fled the
Turin area and headed for Austria sometime after the Saturday raids.
He resurfaced the next night, when he crashed his car into a police
blockade just 25 kilometres inside his native country's border with
Italy, some 400 kilometres from Turin.
Schroecksnadel
said police took Mayer to a psychiatric facility, where he was staying
because it was feared he might commit suicide. Mayer appeared Tuesday
in an Austrian court, where he pleaded guilty to charges of civil
disorder, assault and damage to property. "It is a saga," Rogge said
of Mayer's bizarre flight. "Not even Hollywood could come up with
a scenario like it."
Though Mayer had
been in Italy coaching the team in a private capacity, IOC medical
commission chief Arne Ljungqvist said his presence - while not breaking
any rules - had violated the "spirit" of his Olympic ban.
Mayer was banned
from the Turin Games and the 2010 Games in Vancouver after blood transfusion
materials were found at the Salt Lake City Games. The Austrians claimed
it was used for ultraviolet radiation of blood to treat and prevent
colds and flu.
Saturday's raids,
the first ever by police on athletes at the Olympics, occurred amid
enormous scrutiny of athletes for any possible signs of doping.
Only one athlete,
Russian biathlon star Olga Pyleva, has been thrown out of the Games
for doping so far.
Problems
follow Austrian ski coach Walter Mayer across the border
20/02/2006 9:05:00
PM
TURIN, Italy (AP)
- An Austrian ski coach who bolted the Winter Games following a surprise
anti-doping raid wound up in a psychiatric hospital - the latest stop
on his bizarre flight from Turin, where authorities were still analyzing
100 syringes and other material seized from athletes' housing.
Authorities took
Walter Mayer into custody Sunday after he crashed his car into a police
blockade 25 kilometres inside Austria's border with Italy. Police
later took him to a psychiatric facility, Austria's ski federation
president Peter Schroecksnadel told The Associated Press. "Apparently
he's still in there," Schroecksnadel said Monday night. "I believe
that there was a danger of suicide - they had to take him to the hospital."
Mayer was banished
from the Olympics over allegations of blood doping at the 2002 Olympics
in Salt Lake City. He resurfaced with the team in Turin, triggering
police raids late Saturday - the first-ever doping sweep by police
on athletes competing at the Games.
Against the backdrop
of the most stringent drug controls in Winter Games history, local
authorities seized the syringes and 30 packages of antidepressants
and asthma medication, Italian prosecutor Raffaele Guariniello told
Austrian television. One Austrian athlete threw a bag out of a window
containing needles and medicines as police swarmed the house, the
Italian news agency ANSA reported.
Schroecksnadel
defended the presence of asthma medication, saying as many as five
athletes were approved to use it legitimately. He also suggested the
materials could be used for innocent purposes, such as injecting vitamins.
"The question is not the number of syringes but what was in them,"
he said.
Mayer left the
Austrian biathlon and cross-country team base in the Italian Alps
sometime before or during the overnight raids. He made it back to
his native Austria, driving at least 400 kilometres before he stopped
on the side of the road, reportedly to take a nap.
When police officers
arrived, Mayer sped away, striking and slightly injuring an officer,
police said. Authorities parked an empty police vehicle across the
highway as a roadblock, and Mayer slammed into the squad car, totalling
both vehicles. He sustained minor injuries.
Police said Mayer
refused to take a blood-alcohol test, which an officer requested after
Mayer allegedly showed signs of being intoxicated.
Austria's cross-country
relay team came in last out of 16 teams the morning after the raids,
which kept some of the athletes up all night. No Austrians have won
a medal in biathlon or cross-country at these Games, but the rest
of the country's Olympic delegation rebounded Monday, winning three
gold medals and two bronze in alpine and nordic events Monday.
Austrian ski officials
said they had severed ties with Mayer. "This is inexcusable," said
Schroecksnadel. "Whoever does such a thing can no longer be a model"
for athletes. "We suspended him even before we found out he was in
the hospital," he said.
Austrian prosecutor
Gottfried Kranz told The AP that police released Mayer early Monday
and then made a stop at a hospital psychiatric clinic in the southern
city of Klagenfurt. He also said investigators found no illegal substances
inside the wreckage of Mayer's car.
Mayer could be
charged with evading arrest and causing bodily harm to a police officer,
Kranz said. Italian authorities would not seek Mayer's arrest, though
they were investigating possible violation of the country's anti-doping
laws, said Marcello Maddalena, Turin's chief prosecutor.
During the raids,
six skiers and four biathletes were taken for tests by the International
Olympic Committee, hours before some were due to compete. The tests
were still being analyzed.
Turin's chief
prosecutor, Marcello Maddalena, confirmed Monday that Mayer was under
investigation for possible violation of Italy's anti-doping laws,
which treats doping as a criminal offense. But Maddalena said authorities
would not seek Mayer's arrest.
Schroecksnadel
confirmed that two biathletes - Wolfgang Perner and Wolfgang Rottmann
- were suspended from the team for leaving Turin before the conclusion
of the games. Both had finished their events, although Rottmann was
available for a relay team. "We will hold a hearing in Vienna once
the Olympics are over," Schroecksnadel said. "It doesn't matter what
the IOC findings are, if we find they've done the wrong thing, they'll
be banned officially."
Austrian officials
said Mayer had been in Italy in a private capacity, but had spent
one night in the athletes' accommodation. IOC medical commission chief
Arne Ljungqvist said Mayer's presence violated the "spirit" of his
Olympic ban.
World Anti-Doping
Agency officers recently learned of Mayer's presence at the Olympics
and notified the IOC, which in turn tipped off Italian police. The
raids signalled a new level of cooperation between Olympic officials
and law enforcement authorities in tracking down suspected drug cheats.
With files from
Associated Press
Biathlon
medallist fails drug test
Last Updated:
Thu Feb 16 09:15:44 EST 2006
CBC Sports
Russian biathlete
Olga Pyleva, the silver medallist in Monday's 15-kilometre race, tested
positive for a banned substance at the Torino Olympics.
CBC News has learned
Pyleva tested positive for the stimulant carphedon. Pyleva, 30, is
the first athlete to fail a drug test at these Winter Games. She won
the 10 km at the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City.
Pyleva was scheduled
to compete in the 7.5 km sprint Thursday morning, but was scratched
just before the start of the race. She was considered the leading
medal contender. "The IOC has provisionally suspended the athlete
for a disciplinary issue," International Olympic Committee spokeswoman
Giselle Davies said Thursday.
An IOC panel will
be convened to hear Pyleva's case. If found guilty, she would be thrown
out of the Games. The IOC said it had conducted 380 tests since the
Olympic Village opened Jan 31.
Russia's Svetlana
Ishmouratova won the gold in Monday's 15-km event ahead of Pyleva.
Germany's Martina Glagow was third and Russian Albina Akhatova was
fourth.
With files from
Associated Press
Pound
thinks skiers were doping
Last Updated:
Thu Feb 16 08:36:08 EST 2006
CBC Sports
World Anti-Doping
Agency chief Dick Pound spoke out Thursday on the cross-country skiers
who were found to have high hemoglobin levels.
Cross-country
skiers who were found to have high hemoglobin levels days before the
Torino Olympics might have taken banned substances, World Anti-Doping
Agency chief Dick Pound said on Thursday. "All that we've said so
far is that it's too much of a coincidence that suddenly two days
before the Winter Olympics 12 cross-country skiers have these hugely
elevated levels of hemoglobin," Pound told CBC News. "After the Games,
let's get some experts together and see whether we really think we
are dealing with doping and what we can do about it. During the Games,
of course, you can't change the rules in midstream."
Last Thursday
eight cross-country skiers competing in Turin, including Canadian
Sean Crooks, were notified by the International Ski Federation (FIS)
that their hemoglobin levels – part of the red blood cell that can
improve endurance – were slightly higher than the standard set by
the FIS.
The next day,
the FIS added four more cross-country skiers to the list of athletes
that tested high for levels of hemoglobin in their blood systems.
All 12 skiers received a five-day suspension for health concerns.
The FIS said high altitude training was the most likely reason for
the increase in the hemoglobin level.
Pound took exception
with that assessment. "This is not a particularly high altitude. If
you went to Machu Picchu (in Peru) for nine months you might get it,"
Pound told CBC News.
The skiers were
suspended pending re-testing before their competitions, but several
of them, including Crooks and Olympic champion Evi Sachenbacher, registered
reduced levels after re-testing and were allowed to compete in Italy.
Pound, who is
an International Olympic Committee member, said FIS was making light
of the problem by calling it a health issue. "I think we are going
to have another look (after the Games). It is easier to deal with
it as a health problem than doping problem," Pound told Reuters news
agency.
"They (FIS) might
be afraid that they are not able to prove that they were drugged."
With files from
Associated Press
German
skier loses race appeal
Last Updated:
Sun Feb 12 04:47:36 EST 2006
CBC Sports
Olympic cross-country
champion Evi Sachenbacher lost her appeal to compete in the pursuit
event Sunday after receiving a five-day start prohibition. Sachenbacher,
who was found Thursday to have high hemoglobin levels along with seven
other cross-country skiers, pleaded her case to the Court of Arbitration
for Sport.
Four other skiers
received the same fate on Friday after their blood tests were released.
The committee said Saturday that it rejected the German's case and
would disclose its reasons on Sunday.
Sachenbacher was
one of 12 skiers, including Sean Crooks of Thunder Bay, Ont., to be
given the five-day prohibition for health concerns. German team doctor
Ernst Jakob said Sachenbacher was "shattered" when news of her tests
were revealed on Friday morning.
Sachenbacher won
gold in the 4x5-kilometre relay and silver in sprint in 2002. She's
also won the 2003 world championships and ranks seventh in the World
Cup standings this season.
There's no evidence
that the skiers cheated as elevated hemoglobin can be caused by dehydration
or the body's ability to adapt to mountain air. Hemoglobin is the
part of a red blood cell that transports oxygen from the lungs to
all cells in the rest of the body. Prohibited strategies, such as
the use of synthetic hemoglobin and blood transfusions, have been
used by athletes in the past to increase the oxygen in the muscles.
A follow-up procedure will take place Monday to re-test the hemoglobin
levels of the eight cross-country skiers that were high on Thursday.
Despite the five-day
warning, Crooks is expected to compete in all his events at the Games
because his first competition isn't scheduled until Feb. 22.
with files from
Associated Press
U.S.
athlete banned from Games
Last Updated:
Fri Feb 10 10:40 EST 2006
CBC Sports
Zach Lund was
given a one-year suspension Friday by the Court of Arbitration for
Sport.
(CP file photo)
American skeleton
medal prospect Zach Lund has been banned from the Torino Olympics.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled Friday that Lund, the
top U.S. skeleton slider, should serve a one-year suspension for testing
positive for Finasteride, a substance commonly used as a steriod masking
agent.
The ban takes
effect immediately, and Lund will not compete in Turin. Lund tested
positive at a World Cup race in Calgary in November. The results became
public in early January, at which time the 27-year-old blamed the
result on his use of hair-restoration medication.
The U.S. Anti-Doping
Agency (USADA) issued a public warning to Lund in late January and
ordered him to forfeit his silver medal from the Calgary event, but
declined to hold him out of the Olympics. The World Anti-Doping Agency
(WADA) appealed the USADA's decision to the CAS.
The CAS said it
was satisfied that Lund did not intend to cheat but that he should
have been aware of the list of banned substances. "The panel concluded
that Mr. Lund bears no significant fault or negligence and decided
to reduce the period of ineligibility requested by WADA from two years
to one year," a statement said.
Lund was considered
an Olympic medal contender before his positive test became public.
He reached the podium in the first four races of the World Cup season
but hasn't competed since winning silver in Sigulda, Latvia in mid-December.
The CAS decision
dealt another blow to the U.S. skeleton program. Coach Tim Nardiello
was dismissed in early February amid allegations of sexual harrasment
made by female team members.
Lund's ban come
a day after it was announced that Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jose
Theodore had tested positive for a banned substance, which a team
doctor attributed to Theodore's use of the hair-restoration drug Propecia.
with files from
Associated Press
