Four more skiers suspended for high hemoglobin; athletes say altitude, dehydration is the cause

By JANIE McCAULEY, AP Sports Writer PRAGELATO, Italy (AP) -- The number of cross country skiers suspended at the Turin Olympics climbed to 12 Friday, with the athletes hastening to explain that their abnormally high hemoglobin levels were caused by dehydration and adjusting to high altitude -- not blood doping. Four more skiers received five-day competition bans, joining eight who were suspended Thursday -- including two Americans and a former gold medalist from Germany. While some will miss the men's and women's pursuit event on Sunday, all will serve their suspensions in time to be cleared for possible competition. There is no proof that the athletes did anything wrong: Hemoglobin, the red blood cells that increase endurance, can indeed be raised in innocent ways. And the skiing federation that conducted the tests noted that the bans were not disciplinary, but to "protect the health of the athlete." Still, the test results raise the possibility of doping with synthetic hemoglobin or transfusions to increase the oxygen in the muscles. "I am the last person to do something like this," said Germany's Evi Sachenbacher, who broke down in tears Friday while professing her innocence. Athletes who fail blood tests are retested five days later. The eight suspended late Thursday are scheduled for new tests Monday; it was not immediately clear when the latest four failed their tests. "We are confident that five days is a sufficient time to allow for the blood values to normalize if they are the result of living at a high altitude or dehydration," said Bengt Saltin, chairman of the FIS medical committee. "However, a five-day period is not sufficient to remove the impact of EPO (erythropoietin) or blood transfusion." The two Americans suspended Thursday were 23-year-old Kikkan Randall of Anchorage, Alaska, and Leif Zimmermann, 22, from Bozeman, Mont. The other skiers suspended were Sean Crooks of Canada; Sergey Dolidovich of Belarus; Jean Marc Gaillard of France; Aleksandr Lasutkin of Belarus; and Natalia Matveeva of Russia. On Friday, the International Ski Federation added four to that list: Alen Abramovic of Croatia; Russians Pavel Korosteljev and Nikolai Pankratov; and Robel Teklemariam of Ethiopia. Neither American was favored to win a medal. But the U.S. team did lose a gold contender to drug testing Friday when Zach Lund, America's top skeleton slider, was banned from the Olympics for taking a common hair-restoration pill that can be used to mask steroids. A court conceded that he wasn't a cheat, but upheld his ban anyway. Sachenbacher, who took gold and silver medals at the 2002 Salt Lake City games, explained to reporters that she normally drinks plenty of fluids when competing and training. She said she needs to drink more water in the coming days to lower her levels before being retested. "At home, I drink a lot and I never did anything to be guilty," said Sachenbacher, who is currently ranked seventh in the overall World Cup standings. International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge said the suspensions "were not doping tests." Nobody seems too concerned about it, with various officials using the word "routine" to describe the action taken by the International Ski Federation. The cross country venue is at about 5,013 feet in the Italian Alps. U.S. Ski Team spokesman Tom Kelly said team officials don't believe Randall or Zimmermann did anything wrong, noting that neither will miss events because they weren't scheduled to ski Sunday. "We have a pretty good passport on my blood levels and I'm routinely around 17 (maximum level) as I've spent almost my entire life living and training at altitude," said Zimmermann, competing in his first Olympics. "I also have had a head cold for the past week and that definitely affected my hydration, along with the altitude. Hopefully this won't affect any of my plans at the Olympics." Randall is scheduled to race Tuesday, while Zimmerman may be in either the men's sprint on Feb. 22 or the 50-kilometer race on Feb. 26. Randall, a sprint specialist who goes by the nickname "Kikkanimal," is competing in her second Olympics. Her aunt, Betsy Haines, competed in the 1980 Olympics in cross country and her uncle, Chris, was on the 1976 team. "I knew that with all the running around we did getting here and into the village earlier this week, that not getting fluid was a problem for me," Randall said. The IOC plans to administer close to 1,200 drug tests during the Turin Olympics. The FIS sampled 224 athletes over two days this week. In the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City, Russian star Larissa Lazutina was disqualified for having high levels of performance-boosting hemoglobin, keeping the Russian team out of the 20-kilometer relay. Sachenbacher and her German teammates then edged the Norwegians for the gold medal. Lazutina later was stripped of the gold medal she won in the 30-kilometer classic race after she tested positive for darbepoetin. Spain's Johann Muehlegg also tested high for hemoglobin in 2002 and lost his gold medal in the 50-kilometer classical race after also testing positive for darbepoetin. German team doctor Ernst Jakob said Sachenbacher's suspension was unnecessary because she has a naturally high hemoglobin level, which posed no danger to her. "This is normal when she is training a long time at altitude," German coach Jochen Behle said. The Germans are planning to take action with the ad-hoc committee that handles international disputes in sports. After the blood test, Sachenbacher was given no reason to be concerned and allowed to leave without further tests, such as providing a urine sample. German officials said they told FIS in August that Sachenbacher has naturally high hemoglobin levels and requested an exemption for her hemoglobin number. "Our lawyers are looking at it. We'll see if anything can be done," German Olympic committee spokesman Michael Schirp said. AP Sports Writers Nesha Starcevic and John Pye; AP writer Naomi Koppel; and AP writer Dan Joling in Anchorage contributed to this report.