gerard
02-23-2006, 02:19 AM
Two brothers faced off on the snowboard course at the Winter Olympics on Wednesday while the former Austrian cross-country ski coach at the centre of a doping scandal said he has done nothing wrong.
In an interview with a weekly magazine, Walter Mayer said he fled the Games in panic and attempted to kill himself when he crashed into a police car in Austria earlier this week.
The coach, whose presence near Olympic venues triggered Italian police raids and what could become a major doping scandal of the Games, told Austria's News magazine that he had nothing to with doping and had been in Italy privately.
"I panicked. I knew that I would suffer injustice. I wanted to clarify this injustice from outside, from a neutral place in Austria," Mayer was quoted as saying.
His lawyer, Herwig Hasslacher, denied the coach had any link to doping.
"My client did not have anything illegal with him," Hasslacher told Austrian TV network ORF. "He didn't have any banned substances with him, he didn't have any syringes."
The head of the Austrian ski federation said Tuesday that two athletes admitted they "may have used illegal methods" at the Winter Games. Police seized unlabelled drugs, a blood transfusion machine and dozens of syringes in a surprise sweep of Austrian athletes' living quarters over the weekend.
Germany remained at the top of the medals table Wednesday with nine golds, eight silvers and five bronzes for a total of 22. Austria was second with eight golds and 19 medals overall while the United States was third with seven golds and 18 total.
Big brother was watching when Philipp Schoch won Olympic gold for Switzerland in snowboarding's parallel giant slalom - the defending champion defeated older brother Simon over the two-run final to keep gold and silver in the family.
"We talked about it at the top and said, 'OK, we'll give full power and go straight and the better will win,"' said Philipp Schoch, who became the only person ever two win two Olympic snowboarding golds. "Today, I'm better. Sorry brother."
Siegfried Grabner of Austria was third, defeating Mathieu Bozzetto of France in the race for bronze after the Frenchman fell.
Evelyne Leu of Switzerland won the women's freestyle aerials, landing a triple backflip with three twists on her second of two jumps in the final to take the title ahead of Li Nina of China. Defending champion Alisa Camplin of Australia won bronze less than six months after a knee reconstruction
Anja Paerson finally added Olympic gold to her trophy case, winning the women's slalom.
The 24-year-old Swede defeated rival Janica Kostelic, who could only manage fourth - the first time in seven Winter Olympic races the Croatian has failed to win a medal.
Austrian skiers Nicole Hosp and Marlies Schild were second and third.
"She really wanted this gold for us," Paerson's father and coach said. "The Olympic Games are the biggest thing."
And with Bjoern Lind taking gold in the men's 1.3-kilometre sprint, Sweden matched its best ever Winter Olympic haul of 10 medals, which it last reached 50 years ago.
Kostelic, whose six medals in two Olympics are the most by any women's Alpine skier, said her Olympics likely are over, that she is "90 per cent" certain she will not compete in the giant slalom on Friday because of a lingering illness.
In an interview with a weekly magazine, Walter Mayer said he fled the Games in panic and attempted to kill himself when he crashed into a police car in Austria earlier this week.
The coach, whose presence near Olympic venues triggered Italian police raids and what could become a major doping scandal of the Games, told Austria's News magazine that he had nothing to with doping and had been in Italy privately.
"I panicked. I knew that I would suffer injustice. I wanted to clarify this injustice from outside, from a neutral place in Austria," Mayer was quoted as saying.
His lawyer, Herwig Hasslacher, denied the coach had any link to doping.
"My client did not have anything illegal with him," Hasslacher told Austrian TV network ORF. "He didn't have any banned substances with him, he didn't have any syringes."
The head of the Austrian ski federation said Tuesday that two athletes admitted they "may have used illegal methods" at the Winter Games. Police seized unlabelled drugs, a blood transfusion machine and dozens of syringes in a surprise sweep of Austrian athletes' living quarters over the weekend.
Germany remained at the top of the medals table Wednesday with nine golds, eight silvers and five bronzes for a total of 22. Austria was second with eight golds and 19 medals overall while the United States was third with seven golds and 18 total.
Big brother was watching when Philipp Schoch won Olympic gold for Switzerland in snowboarding's parallel giant slalom - the defending champion defeated older brother Simon over the two-run final to keep gold and silver in the family.
"We talked about it at the top and said, 'OK, we'll give full power and go straight and the better will win,"' said Philipp Schoch, who became the only person ever two win two Olympic snowboarding golds. "Today, I'm better. Sorry brother."
Siegfried Grabner of Austria was third, defeating Mathieu Bozzetto of France in the race for bronze after the Frenchman fell.
Evelyne Leu of Switzerland won the women's freestyle aerials, landing a triple backflip with three twists on her second of two jumps in the final to take the title ahead of Li Nina of China. Defending champion Alisa Camplin of Australia won bronze less than six months after a knee reconstruction
Anja Paerson finally added Olympic gold to her trophy case, winning the women's slalom.
The 24-year-old Swede defeated rival Janica Kostelic, who could only manage fourth - the first time in seven Winter Olympic races the Croatian has failed to win a medal.
Austrian skiers Nicole Hosp and Marlies Schild were second and third.
"She really wanted this gold for us," Paerson's father and coach said. "The Olympic Games are the biggest thing."
And with Bjoern Lind taking gold in the men's 1.3-kilometre sprint, Sweden matched its best ever Winter Olympic haul of 10 medals, which it last reached 50 years ago.
Kostelic, whose six medals in two Olympics are the most by any women's Alpine skier, said her Olympics likely are over, that she is "90 per cent" certain she will not compete in the giant slalom on Friday because of a lingering illness.