| Salt Lake City |
 |
 |
| GER |
12 |
16 |
7 |
35 |
 |
| USA |
10 |
13 |
11 |
34 |
|
| NOR |
11 |
7 |
6 |
24 |
|
| CAN |
6 |
3 |
8 |
17 |
|
| RUS |
6 |
6 |
4 |
16 |
|
| AUT |
2 |
4 |
10 |
16 |
|
| ITA |
4 |
4 |
4 |
12 |
|
| FRA |
4 |
5 |
2 |
11 |
|
| SUI |
3 |
2 |
6 |
11 |
|
| NED |
3 |
5 |
0 |
8 |
|
|
|
|
Briton accepts blame
Associated Press
LONDON — British skier Alain Baxter is taking some of the blame for losing his Olympic slalom bronze medal.
The 28-year-old Scot, who won Britain's first Olympic skiing medal, tested positive for methamphetamine, a banned stimulant, after his surprise third-place finish in the slalom on Feb. 23.
The International Olympic Committee on Thursday stripped Baxter of his medal. The International Ski Federation will decide whether to impose a ban up to a maximum of two years.
Baxter blamed a nasal inhaler he purchased in Salt Lake City for producing the positive test. The product sold in the United States contains levamfetamine, a mild form of methamphetamine, while the British version does not. Methamphetamine, also known as speed, is a powerful nervous system stimulant.
"Everyone has to accept a degree of responsibility for this issue," said British Olympic Association chief executive Simon Clegg, who was head of the British delegation in Salt Lake City.
"Unbeknown to us, Alain went out and bought a product that . . . he was confident would not result in a positive test," Clegg said. "In that respect, the system failed because Alain was not sufficiently astute to the fact that absolutely everything has to be checked."
Baxter bought nasal spray due to a head cold and had it checked by team doctors. He then bought the inhaler but did not clear it with officials.
"I have been using it since I was a kid," he said. "At the time, it never crossed my mind it was different to the British one. In my mind, I had no reason to get it checked.
"It was my mistake, I just have to live with it and get on with it."
Baxter said he may have to consider retirement if given a lengthy ban.
"Two years is a long time," he said. "It's hard to say, we'll just have to wait and see. I don't know what the ban would be, but I am still skiing for sure."
Baxter said he wanted further tests done to prove the type of methamphetamine found in his system.
"Three weeks ago, I didn't know what methamphetamine was, but there are two sides to it and the side in the Vicks inhaler is harmless — it is not performance enhancing and the amount in my sample was barely traceable," he said.
"That's what we were trying to put forward to the IOC, that they could do that test and clear my name. I'm 100 percent sure it would clear my name because I haven't taken anything else other than the nasal spray and the inhaler."
Baxter's medal will now go to the original fourth-place finisher, Austria's Benjamin Raich. The IOC said the BOA must return the medal by March 31.
The IOC also disqualified Vasily Pankov, an ice hockey player from Belarus who tested positive for the steroid nandrolone. The Belarus team doctor, Evgeni Lositski, was banned from the next two Olympics.
Five doping cases have now been confirmed from Salt Lake City, matching the total of all previous Winter Olympics.
The IOC's strict-liability rules make it clear that athletes are automatically disqualified if a prohibited substance is found in their body, whether it was taken intentionally or not.
"The mere presence of the substance in the body constitutes a doping offense," IOC director general Francois Carrard said. "There is no room to take into account whether it was in good faith or not. That's a rule and we absolutely have to apply it. We had no choice."
The IOC is still investigating the Austrian cross country ski team after blood transfusion equipment was discovered in a house used by the Austrians during the Olympics.
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March 22, 2002
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