http://www.cbc.ca/olympics/stories/headlines.shtml?/story/olympics/national/2006/02/19/Sports/sp_dopingagain20060219.html
Police raid finds doping materials
Last Updated: Sun Feb 19 22:24:06 EST 2006
Italian law enforcement authorities who raided the Olympic residences of Austria's biathlon and cross-country teams early Sunday, confirmed later in the day they had found equipment involved in illegal doping activities.
Among the discoveries was blood analysis equipment, as well as syringes, vials of distilled water, asthma medication and other substances, according to ANSA, the Italian news agency.
The announcement was just one in a day filled with emerging information about the case.
Also on Sunday, Walter Mayer, the banned coach whose presence at the Olympics set off the first-ever raid of athletes, was taken into custody after allegedly crashing into a police road block following a chase through the mountain roads near the Austria-Italy border.
Mayer was apparently on his way home, having slipped away from the raid of the Austrian team.
Meanwhile, BBC News reported the head of biathlon's international federation was claiming documents confirming a positive pre-Games drug test were missing.
"I have simply been told that documents were stolen," Anders Besseberg told the BBC.
It was not said whose test it was, or for what country the athlete competed. Canadian Dick Pound, head of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) said he was not aware of such a theft.
The Austrian ski federation confirmed two of the 10 competitors tested by the IOC following the police raid had been kicked off the team for going home without permission. The federation also announced it had ended its relationship with Mayer, effective immediately, giving the accident as the reason.
It was not clear why the federation was involved with Mayer, after he had been suspended by skiing's international governing body until 2015. The Olympic Organizing Committee banned him from Torino and the 2010 Vancouver Games, for doping violations at Salt Lake City in 2002.
Wolfgang Schuessel, the Austrian chancellor, weighed in on Sunday in an interview with ORF, the Austrian state broadcaster. He said he found it "completely infuriating that someone like Walter Mayer shows up [in Turin].
"Dozens of Austrian athletes have been preparing for their whole lives to reach this summit, and then something like this happens," he said.
On Saturday, as Italian authorities searched the local residences of the Austrian nordic team, the IOC conducted unannounced, out-of-competition tests on 10 Austrian athletes – six cross-country skiers and four biathletes.
"We never asked the Italian police to take action," IOC medical commission chief Arne Ljungqvist said. "We informed them that we would conduct testing on the evening of the 18th and they decided to take action at the same time."
Austrian skier Juergen Pinter said "We were surprised in our room. Suddenly, the police came in and didn't let us leave on the night before the competition.
"This happened without any positive result from doping control in the team. It's crazy."
"They checked every drink, every food, and they took a lot of stuff with them," Austrian spokesman Eric Wagner claimed. "They came around 9 and stayed until 12 and then took the athletes away to be tested."
Austria finished dead last in Sunday's 4x10-kilometre relay.
"They absolutely ruined the race," Austrian skier Martin Tauber said. "I was already a little bit tired yesterday."
Italian police were acting on a report by WADA.
Pound told the Associated Press on Saturday that doping control officers went to Austria to test athletes and, while they did not find who they were looking for, they did find blood doping equipment linked to Mayer.
"They [the Austrians] have been playing with fire in having an association with this guy," Pound said.
WADA officials later learned that Mayer was in Italy with the Austrian team.
"The fact he was in the same area as the athletes created quite some concern to us," Ljungqvist said.
Despite being banned by the IOC and skiing's international body, Mayer is still the head coach of the country's cross-country and the biathlon team.
Wagner confirmed Mayer had been at the Torino Games, in a private capacity, and in touch with the team as of Saturday.
"Why not? He's allowed to talk to anyone," Wagner said. "If he is with the team the whole year, why not now?"
Mayer coached the cross-country team to its first-ever medals in nordic skiing at the 1998 Nagano Olympics, and a gold in the relay at the 1999 worlds and two more medals at the Salt Lake Games in 2002.
But after blood-transfusion equipment was found in a chalet at 2002 Olympics, Mayer was banned for life by the International Ski Federation (FIS).
That was eventually lowered to 10 years, in 2005.
German chiropractor Volker Mueller, who prescribed the blood treatments, was also banned through 2010.
with files from Canadian Press, Associated Press and BBC News
http://www.cbc.ca/olympics/stories/headlines.shtml?/story/olympics/national/2006/02/19/Sports/sp_mayer20060219.html
Austrian coach crashes roadblock
Walter Mayer, the man whose appearance at the Torino Winter Olympic Games set off a raid by Italian police on the Austrian nordic ski team, has been taken into custody by Italian police after he allegedly took them on a chase through the mountains that ended with a crash into a police barrier.
Italian police took Mayer into protective custody after he allegedly tried to run a one-car road block while heading for the Austrian border.
Police earlier in the evening had approached a car in which a man was sleeping. The occupant, identified as Mayer by authorities, drove off, hitting and slightly injuring an officer, and authorities gave chase.
Mayer, himself, was reported to be slightly injured in the later incident, in which a car rammed an unoccupied police cruiser set up to block a road in the town of Paternion, in the province of Carinthia, about 24 kilometres from the Italian frontier, and 400 km from Turin.
He refused to take a sobriety test requested by the officers.
It was not known on Sunday evening if Mayer would face charges, or if a search was done of the vehicle. His license was provisionally suspended.
He was apparently returning to his home country, some hours after Italian authorities had launched their raid on the Austrian biathlon and cross-country team quarters, looking for banned substances and equipment.
Italian authorities said they had seized blood analysis equipment, as well as syringes, vials of distilled water, asthma medication and other substances, according to ANSA, the Italian news agency.
ANSA also reported that one athlete had thrown a bag out of a window of the residence during the raid that contained needles and medicines.
Mayer had been living in a house next door to the Austrian team's residence in the hamlet of San Sicario, said CBC News, on Sunday night. A BBC News report also said that Austrian officials had admitted Mayer was staying with the group.
Meanwhile, the Austrian Ski Federation said Sunday night it had ended its relationship with Mayer, giving the accident as the reason.
There was no indication as to why the Austrian federation had any kind of relationship in the first place with Mayer, who was on the the international ski federation's (FIS) banned list to 2015, and had been banned from the Torino and Vancouver 2010 Games by the IOC.
With files from Associated Press
Last Updated: Sun Feb 19 19:58:21 EST 2006
I know there are fans of it who are going to argue with me tooth and nail but I do not enjoy figure skating as a sport. 
