Drug tests strip two of medals

Compiled from Times wires
© St. Petersburg Times
published February 25, 2002

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SALT LAKE CITY -- Olympic officials, vowing to stay a step ahead of drugged athletes, threw two multi-medalist skiers out of the Games Sunday and stripped them of a gold medal each for using a substance not on the banned list.

Cross-country skiers Larissa Lazutina of Russia and Johann Muehlegg of Spain forfeited recent medals after testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug intended to help kidney patients avoid anemia.

A third cross-country skier, Russia's Olga Danilova, tested positive for the same drug, darbepoetin, which boosts the production of red blood cells that carry oxygen to muscles.

The athletes were tossed out of the Olympics on the final day of competition.

Arne Ljunqqvist, chairman of the IOC's medical commission, said the disqualifications were a warning to athletes who think they can get away with using new drugs.

"The substance is not listed on the banned list because it is so new," he said. "This is a strong statement to those who say we are far behind. We are on their heels."

Lazutina, who tied an Olympic record Sunday with her 10th medal by winning the women's 30-kilometer classical race, was forced to give up that victory. She keeps two medals she won earlier: silvers in the 15K freestyle and 10K combined.

Muehlegg, who had won three gold medals, was ordered to return the one from Saturday's 50K classical. But he will keep his golds in the 30K freestyle and the 10K pursuit events.

"I don't understand this result. I've been skiing for 10 years in World Cups and I've been through 25 controls, and there's never been a problem," Muehlegg said in a Spanish radio interview.

He had been picked to carry the Spanish flag at the Closing Ceremony, but was replaced by Maria Jose Rienda Contreras, who finished sixth in the giant slalom.

Danilova, who earlier won a gold and silver, was disqualified from the 30K classical race, in which she finished eighth.

The IOC said it could not strip the other medals because the athletes had passed the drug tests, but IOC president Jacques Rogge said the medals are tainted.

"Technically, they are Olympic champions," Rogge said. "Morally it is a totally different issue."

The Spanish and Russian Olympic delegations challenged the process by which test results were validated. All three positive results came from out-of-competition drug tests on Thursday.

Vitaly Smirnov, an IOC vice president from Russia, said the Russian team would appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport but would not pull out of the Closing Ceremony because of the drug cases.

Since darbepoetin is relatively new, it is not on the IOC's list of banned substances. But it has similar properties to the banned hormone erythropoietin.

Darbepoetin, marketed under the name Aranesp, was approved in mid September by the Food and Drug Administration to help patients with chronic kidney failure battle anemia.

After Lazutina was disqualified, Italy's Gabriella Paruzzi, who finished second, was awarded gold, Italy's Stefania Belmondo got silver and Norway's Bente Skari bronze.

Nina Kemppel was the top American finisher in 15th, followed by Wendy Wagner (23th) and Barbara Jones (35th). It was Kemppel's best finish at the Games. "It's been a really tough week for me mentally to overcome all my setbacks and stay positive," Kemppel said.

Muehlegg's disqualification gave Russia's Mikhail Ivanov gold, Estonia's Andrus Veerpalu silver and Norway's Odd-Bjoern Hjelmeset bronze.

Lazutina's 10th medal had tied the women's Winter Games record held by cross-country skier Raisa Smetanina, who won four gold, five silver and one bronze competing for the Soviet Union and the Russian Unified team from 1976 to 1992.

The 36-year-old skier was disqualified from the women's relay Thursday for having high levels of performance-boosting hemoglobin, a blood molecule that helps carry oxygen to muscles. She passed a test Sunday morning, allowing her to compete before the results of the earlier test were announced.

"It was a shocking experience," she said. "That tragedy on Thursday made me more determined to work hard."

The favored Russians had to withdraw from the relay. Russian officials claimed drug-testers were targeting their athletes, and the dispute led to widespread complaints of biased judging in other sports.

Russia threatened to pull out of the Olympics and not compete in the 2004 Summer Games if its concerns were not addressed.

"The rules need to be changed," Lazutina said before the results of the second blood test were announced. "Unfortunately we cannot change any rules. In that sense, I feel lawless. ... It's hard to get to the people who make decisions. I feel like we're treated like criminals because of those tests."

A random urine test Thursday found traces of darbepoetin in the German-born Muehlegg, who was called before the IOC's disciplinary panel early Sunday, along with Spanish Olympic officials and the team doctor.

Before Saturday's 50K race, he was randomly selected to be tested for high levels of hemoglobin.

His levels were above the limit for the first test, but beneath the threshold in a second administered five minutes later. He was allowed to race and made a strong comeback over the final 10 kilometers to beat Ivanov by 14.9 seconds.

Asked why the tests showed different levels, Muehlegg said, "I don't know if the machine is not working well." He said a change in his diet three days before the race may have altered his blood levels.

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