Winter Olympics: Eight cross-country skiers, including an Olympic gold medallist from Germany, have been suspended for five days on health grounds ahead of tonight's opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Turin.
The suspensions drew a swift response from the the German team at the Winter Games who have launched an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport, a team spokesman said. The International Ski Federation (FIS) said the skiers had been banned from competing after tests showed they had an abnormally high red blood cell count.
The suspensions started yesterday and run until Monday when the eight will be tested again. If the levels remain high they face a further five-day ban.
The Winter Olympics cross-country programme opens on Sunday with two races followed by two more on Tuesday. The FIS said today that among the athletes was German Evi Sachenbacher Stehle, 25, who won a gold medal in the women's relay and a silver in the women's sprint in Salt Lake City in 2002.
"My first thought was, 'S**t! A five-day suspension and I will miss my most important race on Sunday,'" Sachenbacher Stehle told reporters before breaking down in tears at a news conference at Pragelato, venue for the cross-country races.
German team doctors also reacted angrily, saying she produced higher levels naturally. German cross-country team captain Jochen Behle hit out at the FIS, saying: "They do whatever they want. It's disgraceful. We got the news at around nine o'clock this morning, after it had already been reported by German media."
But International Olympic Committee chief Jacques Rogge backed the tests. "We support that (tests). The reason for the tests is to protect the health of the athletes. These are health tests, they are not doping tests," Rogge told reporters.
The other athletes named by the FIS are Sean Crooks (Canada), Sergey Dalidovich (Belarus), Jean Marc Gaillard (France), Alexsandr Latzukin (Belarus), Natalia Matveeva (Russia), Kikkan Randall (U.S.) and Leif Zimmermann (U.S.).
"This is not a sanction but a health measure," said FIS secretary general Sarah Lewis. "When haemoglobin is too high, there is a risk the blood will be too thick and there could be a clot and obviously that could be a danger."
She added: "Haemoglobin levels can be affected by altitude training or the use of agents to boost haemoglobin."
A German ski federation doctor said Sachenbacher Stehle had a naturally higher count of red blood cells.
"We can't accept that athletes are being banned due to slightly higher blood cell counts, using the excuse of health concerns," Ernest Jakob told reporters in Sestriere. "Here we have a case of health concerns being used to justify these blood tests, while the real aim is to avoid blood doping."
Chris Rudge, secretary general of the Canadian Olympic Committee added: "This is not a drug issue, this is an issue of the safety and health of the athlete."
Jakob recommended Sachenbacher Stehle drink lots of water to bring down her levels, although the athlete herself said she was already doing that. "I drink a lot every time I go into competition and I've never taken anything illegal," she said. "I think I'm the last person who would do anything wrong. I'm so disappointed."
German cross-country team doctor Ullrich Schneider described Sachenbacher Stehle as sad and crushed. "Athletes prepare for four years for this event and then they have to take part in this kind of lottery."
Sachenbacher Stehle, who won gold and silver at the 2003 world championships in Val di Fiemme, had been due to race in the women's 15-km pursuit on Sunday. Providing she passes Monday's second test, she will still be able to compete in the women's team sprint on Tuesday.
A French Nordic skiing team chief said France's Gaillard, a relay substitute, also had produced high levels naturally. "In the past, we have sent his file to WADA," said Jean-Pierre Burdet. "We have sent it again and are awaiting an answer."
The men's 30-km pursuit is also on Sunday.
Meanwhile, American skeleton medal prospect Zach Lund was given a one-year ban for doping and will miss the entire Winter Olympics.
CAS delivered its verdict today ahead of the Opening Ceremony. Lund had originally been cleared to compete after he had accepted a public warning from the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) for a failed drugs test.
He tested positive for the steroid masking agent finasteride at a World Cup race in Calgary on November 10th. He and his lawyers argued that the positive test had been caused by hair growth treatment he had taken.
The World Anti-Doping Agency appealed to CAS against USADA's leniency. CAS said it was entirely satisfied Lund was not a cheat but that he had made a mistake and failed to check the list of prohibited substances in 2005.
"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's ban will end on November 9th 2006.