Health

Source: Nettavisen Marit Bjœrgen and Svein Tore Samdal were both tearful after Bjorgen’s impressive 30-kilometer gold at the 2005 Worlds. . Photo: Stian Hœgland

In light of the recent start prohibitions that were issued as a result of FIS pre-competition blood testing at the Olympic Winter Games in Torino, Professor Bengt Saltin, Chairman of the FIS Medical Committee provided answers to some of the most common questions related to the FIS blood testing program: What is the purpose of the FIS blood testing program and the FIS haemoglobin (Hb) limits of 16.0 g/dl for ladies and 17.0 g/dl for...

Axel Teichmann must undergo surgery because of a hair root inflammation and will not be able to compete in the Olympics. Teichmann was the 2004-2005 World Cup champion, but has struggled to find consistent form this season. Franz Goering, who was scheduled to replace Teichmann, will not be able to start on Sunday due to a cold. Andreas Schluetter will take over the starting position. After the restriction on Evi Sachenbacher yesterday, this is the...

German skier Axel Teichman, a medal favorite in all the distance events, is sick a few days ahead of the start of the Olympics. He is not going to start in Sunday’s pursuit. The German star Axel Teichman missed a big part of last year’s World Championship in Oberstdorf and is now sick with fever and pain. – He has struggled a lot all season and I feel sorry for him, says German head coach...

There will be tests for new designer steroids at the Torino Olympics next month according to the head of the World Anti-Doping Agency. Dick Pound won't reveal the names of the new drugs. He says he wants to keep that a surprise to catch athletes who cheat. But as CBC Margo Kelly reports, there are still ways for athletes to use drugs and avoid detection. Read a transcript of the CBC's interview with Dick Pound...

Marit Bjorgen has been diagnosed with bronchitis and has started a seven day antibiotic cure. What looked like a cold that started on Saturday was diagnosed as bronchitis by an Italian doctor on Tuesday, according to the Norwegian team’s physician Hans Petter Stokke. Bjorgen has as part of the treatment been moved from the altitude camp at Seiser Alm (Alpe di Suisse) to lower elevation in order to speed up the recovery 7 day antibiotic...

Exemption For Filbrich German skier Jens Filbrich has received dispensation from The International Skifederation (FIS) to race with his high hemoglobinvalue. Source: Skidsport.com German skier Jens Filbrich was denied a start right during the Kuusamo World Cup races earlier this season. The reason was that his hemoglobinvalue exceeded the legal value of 175 for men. He has now received permission from FIS to race with higher values. The FIS committee agreed that Filbrich’s values are...

The Nordic Ski Club of Fairbanks believes in the adage: Think Globally, Act Locally. To that end, more than 90 members of the Nordic Ski Club, including skiers from 68 years old down to elementary age, fought the rampant obesity that plagues our society by attempting, and in most cases succeeding, to ski their ages in kilometers on the Jim Whisenhant Ski Trails at Birch Hill in Fairbanks on the day after Christmas. It’s a...

On Sunday in Kuusamo, Finland, Germany's Jens Filbrich was prevented from racing the men's 15km free technique race after a pre-race blood test determined that his hemoglobin level was too high. He was suspended by FIS for five days. Filbrich's hemoglobin level was 17 g/dL, which is the limit authorized by FIS. An elevated hemoglobin level can be an indicator of banned blood-enhancing substances, such as EPO. Filbrich said the abnormal reading was because he...

Norwegian sprinter Johan Kjolstad has broken his pinkie. http://www.fasterskier.com/racing2640.html – It happened during a running workout two weeks ago, right after I came home from Düsseldorf. The ground was covered by a little newfallen snow which made it slippery and I stumbled on a tree root and fell, explain Kjolstad. – The x-ray showed that the bone was crushed. The finger was actually one centimeter shorter than normal. They pulled it back before they put...

Swedish national team skier Jenny Olsson is back on the ski tracks after breast cancer surgery. – Some days have been very tough. The day I was being told was very difficult. On other days I enjoy life a great deal. I felt like on cloud nine when I was told that I was cancer fee again, says Jenny Olsson.

FIS has asked WADA to remove alcohol from the list of banned substances. Source: Dagbladet.no http://www.wada-ama.org/en/ published on Wednesday the revised list of illegal substances in the sport world. The new list is valid from January 1, 2006. http://www.wada-ama.org/rtecontent/document/Explanatory_Note_2006.pdf The doping list is hard to understand for most people, but in short; buprenorphine, dextromoramide and oxycodone are narcotics that are illegal to have in you blood when you compete. Editors note: What is also important...

Neither Per Elofsson nor Mathias Fredriksson is participating in the Swedish team’s ongoing altitude camp in Livignio, Italy Source: Skidsport.com http://www.skidsport.com/

Sprint World Champion Emelie Ohrstig has struggled with an inflamed thyroid gland lately. – Everything has been tough for a long time, says Emelie to the Swedish newspaper Kuriren. Source: Skidsport.com The World Champion was a couple weeks ago told that she had an inflamed thyroid gland. That message came after she had felt tired and drained for several weeks. She is now feeling better. – It takes time to come back, so I can’t...

Kristin Stormer Steira, a member of the Norwegian national team had abdominal surgery three weeks ago. – She is now back in training again, says national team coach Svein Tore Samdal. Source: Langrenn.com Kristin Stormer Steira (24) had a breakthrough season with first place in the Pragelato World Cup pursuit in January and a bronze medal in the pursuit at the 2005 Worlds. High ambitions Steira is currently living in Oslo and has high ambitions...

Swedish World Cup star Mathias Fredriksson is still struggling with the Twar Bacteria and is afraid that the illness will crush his dream about an Olympic medal in his last Olympics. Chlamydia pneumoniae (TWAR) is a recently recognized third species of the genus Chlamydia that causes acute respiratory disease. Source: Langrenn.com http://www.fasterskier.com/training2060.html Fredriksson struggled with the bacteria illness already during Oberstdorf Worlds and went through a long antibiotic cure after Worlds. The infection came back...

2005 50-kilometer bronze medallist Odd-Bjorn Hjelmeset has been bothered a lot by illness the last couple seasons. He has now changed the roof on his house in hope that the problems will disappear. Source: Langrenn.com

Former Olympic relay champion, World Cup race winner and one of Norway’s best skiers in the early eighties, Brit Pettersen Tofte was sent to Lillehammer hospital on Saturday after a bad crash in the mountain bike version of the famous Norwegian Birkie. Brit Pettersen Tofte was sent to Lillehammer hospital after a bad crash in Birkebeinerrittet on Saturday. Pettersen Tofte was in the lead in her age category when the accident happened. An eyewitness said...

Former US Ski Team member and three-time Olympian, Justin Wadsworth was injured when he hit a tree while mountain biking on Saturday afternoon. He damaged ligaments on one vertebra and compressed another. He will have to wear a neck brace for three months, but feels lucky since the fracture was very close to the spinal column. Justin’s accident happened on a dirt trail outside Bend, Oregon where Justin and his wife, 2002 Olympic Champion Beckie...

A new analyzes of Vittoz’s doping test after the World Cup race in Nove Mesto, still shows positive A-test and negative B-test. Source: Langrenn.com — Translated by Torbjorn Karlsen http://www.fasterskier.com/training1875.html Vincent Vittoz B-test Is Negative http://www.fasterskier.com/training1894.html