Austrian sprinter Harald Wurm is being investigated not by a doping agency, but by criminal prosecutors. His house has been searched and he reportedly possessed a hemoglobin meter. This brings up tough memories for Austrians, whose skiers were banned at the 2006 Olympics for having a setup to do blood transfusions.
We read the FIS Anti-Doping Rules so you don't have to. Here are the answers to a few important questions in the wake of the Johannes Dürr EPO scandal. Yes, he was in FIS's registered testing pool (or at least, he should have been according to their own rules); and yes, they have a biological passport program. Dürr still dodged 14 tests, likely in part because of the short half-life of EPO.
Austrian cross country skier Johannes Dürr says that he began taking EPO in June, after pressure to support his family became too much to bear. He says he acquired it from the former Yugoslavia. Meanwhile, the Austrian Ski Federation is considering kicking cross-country skiing out of the snow sports conglomerate after two scandals in three Olympics.
In the wrong place at the wrong time three months ago when he slipped on ice and tore ligaments in his ankle, Switzerland’s Dario Cologna made sure he was in position to do something stellar on Sunday at the first men's cross-country ski race of the Olympics. He won his second Olympic gold, beating the defending champion Marcus Hellner or Sweden to the line.
Martin Johnsrud Sundby led the final stage of the Tour de Ski and never looked back as he skied to his, and Norway's, first victory in the event's history. Sundby, who has skied in every Tour de Ski, called his feat a "dream come true" and, overcome, said, "I have a great feeling, deep into the soul." Chris Jespersen of Norway, skiing in his first Tour de Ski, captured second place. Of his effort on the big climb, he said, "towards the end I thought, 'Now I die.'”
Canadian Alex Harvey skied back onto the Tour de Ski podium, finishing third in the 35 k freestyle pursuit, his third podium of the seven stage event.
Martin Johnsrud Sundby took off like a rocket on Friday and never looked back. The 29-year-old Norwegian had a 32 second headstart in the 5th stage of the Tour de Ski, a 35 k freestyle pursuit race, and he took full advantage of it.
Maurice Manificat was having one heck of a flashback on Saturday in Davos, Switzerland. Two years older and more experienced than he was at his last 30 k there, the 27-year-old Frenchman could sense that he was in the hunt for another World Cup career best in the same race and place he placed second in.