Cross-country skiing at the 2002 Winter Olympics

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The Cross-country skiing events at the 2002 Winter Olympics were marred by drug problems. The winners of three races were disqualified after blood tests showed that three skiers had overly high red blood cell counts indicating the use of darbepoetin, a drug used to treat anemia. At the time, the drug was not specifically listed in the IOC's list of banned substances, but the Olympic rules generally prohibit doping of any kind, in accordance with its charter. After two years and several lawsuits in Olympic and Swiss courts, the skiers in question (Johann Mühlegg of Spain, and Larissa Lazutina and Olga Danilova of Russia) were stripped of all their medals from the 2002 Games.

See the external links below for the official IOC press releases containing detailed information of the doping cases and their resolution, including initial, intermediate, and final amended results. This article gives the final medalists as decided on by the IOC in early 2004.

Contents

[edit] Medal table

 Rank  Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 Norway Norway (NOR) 5 2 4 11
2 Italy Italy (ITA) 2 2 2 6
3 Russia Russia (RUS) 2 1 1 4
4 Germany Germany (GER) 1 2 2 5
5 Estonia Estonia (EST) 1 1 1 3
6 Austria Austria (AUT) 1 1 0 2
7 Canada Canada (CAN) 1 0 0 1
8 Czech Republic Czech Republic (CZE) 0 2 0 2
9 Switzerland Switzerland (SUI) 0 0 1 1
Sweden Sweden (SWE) 0 0 1 1

[edit] Men's events

[edit] 20 km (10km + 10km) pursuit

Medal Athlete Time
Gold Norway Thomas Alsgaard (NOR) 49:48.9
Gold Norway Frode Estil (NOR) 49:48.9
Bronze Sweden Per Elofsson (SWE) 49:52.9

Johann Mühlegg originally won his second gold of the Games (49:20.4), with Alsgaard and Estil tied for the silver. However, Mühlegg was disqualified by the IOC in February 2004, so the Norwegians got the gold and Elofsson the bronze.

[edit] 15 km classical

Medal Athlete Time
Gold Estonia Andrus Veerpalu (EST) 37:07.4
Silver Norway Frode Estil (NOR) 37:43.4
Bronze Estonia Jaak Mae (EST) 37:50.8

This event marked the first Olympic medals at the Winter Games for Estonia.

[edit] 50 km classical

Medal Athlete Time
Gold Russia Mikhail Ivanov (RUS) 2:06:20.8
Silver Estonia Andrus Veerpalu (EST) 2:06:44.5
Bronze Norway Odd-Bjørn Hjelmeset (NOR) 2:08:41.5

Johann Mühlegg originally won gold (2:06:05.9), but was disqualified his blood test revealed the use of darbepoetin.

[edit] 30 km freestyle mass start

Medal Athlete Time
Gold Austria Christian Hoffmann (AUT) 1:11:31.0
Silver Austria Mikhail Botvinov (AUT) 1:11:32.3
Bronze Norway Kristen Skjeldal (NOR) 1:11:42.7

Johann Mühlegg originally won his first (and Spain's second ever) Olympic winter gold, but was disqualified by the IOC in February 2004. His time was 1:09:28.9

[edit] 1.5 km sprint

Medal Athlete Time
Gold Norway Tor Arne Hetland (NOR) 2:56.9
Silver Germany Peter Schlickenrieder (GER) 2:57.0
Bronze Italy Cristian Zorzi (ITA) 2:57.2

[edit] 4 × 10 km relay

Medal Team Time
Gold Norway Norway (NOR) (Anders Aukland, Frode Estil, Kristen Skjeldal, Thomas Alsgaard) 1:32:45.5
Silver Italy Italy (ITA) (Fabio Maj, Giorgio di Centa, Pietro Piller Cottrer,Cristian Zorzi) 1:32:45.8
Bronze Germany Germany (GER) (Jens Filbrich, Andreas Schlütter, Tobias Angerer, René Sommerfeldt) 1:33:34.5

In the third straight close Italy-Norway finish, the Norwegians beat Italy, as they did in 1998.

[edit] Women's events

[edit] 10 km (5 km + 5 km) pursuit

Medal Athlete Time
Gold Canada Beckie Scott (CAN) 25:09.9
Silver Czech Republic Kateřina Neumannová (CZE) 25:10.0
Bronze Germany Viola Bauer (GER) 25:11.1

Originally, Olga Danilova(24:52.1) surprisingly beat Larissa Lazutina(24:59.0) (with Scott taking third) in a close finish for Canada's first ever cross-country skiing Olympic medal. Danilova and Lazutina were later disqualified (in 2004 and 2003 respectively), so Scott received a belated gold medal and Neumannová and Bauer moved up into medal positions.

[edit] 10 km classical

Medal Athlete Time
Gold Norway Bente Skari (NOR) 28:05.6
Silver Russia Yuliya Chepalova (RUS) 28:09.9
Bronze Italy Stefania Belmondo (ITA) 28:45.8

Danilova originally finished second (28:08.1), but was later disqualified in the IOC 2004 decision. Chepalova moved up to silver and Belmondo to the bronze medal position.

[edit] 30 km classical

Medal Athlete Time
Gold Italy Gabriella Paruzzi (ITA) 1:30:57.1
Silver Italy Stefania Belmondo (ITA) 1:31:01.6
Bronze Norway Bente Skari (NOR) 1:31:36.3

Lazutina finished first (1.29.09,0)and Danilova finished eighth, but they were disqualified after their blood tests tested positive for darbepoetin.

[edit] 15 km freestyle mass start

Medal Athlete Time
Gold Italy Stefania Belmondo (ITA) 39:54.4
Silver Czech Republic Kateřina Neumannová (CZE) 40:01.3
Bronze Russia Yuliya Chepalova (RUS) 40:02.7

Lazutina (39:56.2) originally finished second, but was later disqualified in 2003, leading to Neumannová getting the silver and Chepalova the bronze.

[edit] 1.5 km sprint

Medal Athlete Time
Gold Russia Yuliya Chepalova (RUS) 3:10.6
Silver Germany Evi Sachenbacher (GER) 3:12.2
Bronze Norway Anita Moen (NOR) 3:12.7

[edit] 4 × 5 km relay

Medal Athlete Time
Gold Germany Germany (GER) (Manuela Henkel, Viola Bauer, Claudia Künzel, Evi Sachenbacher-Stehle) 49:30.6
Silver Norway Norway (NOR) (Marit Bjørgen, Bente Skari, Hilde G. Pedersen, Anita Moen) 49:31.9
Bronze Switzerland Switzerland (SUI) (Andrea Huber, Laurence Rochat, Brigitte Albrecht Loretan, Natascia Leonardi Cortesi) 50:03.6

The Russian team was not permitted to start after Lazutina's blood tests indicated the use of darbepoetin.

[edit] External links

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Cross-country skiing at the Winter Olympics
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List of medalists (men, women)
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Events at the 2002 Winter Olympics (Salt Lake City)

Cross-country skiing at the 2002 Winter Olympics