Olympics at a glance

Opening act

Italian cross-country skier Stefania Belmondo, a two-time gold medalist, lit the Olympic flame in an opening ceremony that featured dancing cows, fiery in-line skaters and a Ferrari race car that spun doughnuts — perhaps Olympic rings? — in the stadium. Tenor Luciano Pavarotti was the closing act.

Suspensions begin

The first doping scandals occurred before a single medal was awarded:

• Zach Lund, the top slider on the U.S. skeleton team, was banned from the Games for taking a common hair-restoration pill that can be used to mask steroids. The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled Lund should serve a one-year suspension, retroactive to Nov. 10.

• Twelve cross-country skiers have been suspended for failed blood tests. Kikkan Randall of Anchorage, Alaska, and Leif Zimmermann of Bozeman, Mont., were among those banned five days for elevated levels of hemoglobin.

U.S. loses seat

The United States was dealt another setback in the European-dominated International Olympic Committee when Jim Easton lost his seat on the IOC executive board. Easton was defeated by South Africa's Sam Ramsamy. On Thursday, the IOC rejected bids for reinstatement of two traditional American sports — baseball and softball — at the 2012 London Olympics.

Starting gate

Norway's Ole Einar Bjorndalen, holder of five career biathlon gold medals, tries to win Torino's first gold . . . Speedskater Chad Hedrick of Spring, Texas, races in the 5,000 meters . . . Todd Lodwick of Steamboat Springs, Colo., competes in Nordic combined — an event in which the United States has never won a medal.

Quote of the day

The current anti-doping rules lack any notion of common sense. He had a well-documented reason for the positive test." — Howard Jacobs, Zach Lund's attorney.