ITALY: OLYMPIC GAMES - Interview with banned U.S. skeleton contender Zach Lund says he will not rest until he had brought anti-doping officials to book over his ban.

Record ID: 331976

  • Title: ITALY: OLYMPIC GAMES - Interview with banned U.S. skeleton contender Zach Lund says he will not rest until he had brought anti-doping officials to book over his ban.
  • Date: 12th February 2006
  • Summary: TURIN, ITALY (FEBRUARY 11, 2006) (REUTERS) BANNED U.S. SKELETON GOLD MEDAL CONTENDER ZACH LUND AND INTERVIEWER (SOUNDBITE) (English) BANNED U.S. SKELETON ATHLETE ZACH LUND SAYING: "You know, my decision (banning) was made five hours before opening ceremonies, you know, I was in the village with my teammates, with my fellow Olympians, getting ready for the opening ceremony and then they take it away from me and kick me out of the village in a couple of hours" BANNED U.S. SKELETON GOLD MEDAL CONTENDER ZACH LUND AND INTERVIEWER (SOUNDBITE) (English) BANNED U.S. SKELETON ATHLETE ZACH LUND SAYING: "Why did WADA want to give me the maximum penalty that they won't give it to a steroid user, even though they said I wasn't actually cheating? There's something wrong with this picture. And us, as athletes, we have no rights and you know, I had to hire my own lawyer and spend my life savings to save my name, because otherwise I have nothing, you know and it's really unfair" BANNED U.S. SKELETON GOLD MEDAL CONTENDER ZACH LUND AND INTERVIEWER (SOUNDBITE) (English) BANNED U.S. SKELETON ATHLETE ZACH LUND SAYING: "And it's a product that was just added this year, I mean, I've been taking it for six years, they just got a random (??) and said 'Oh wow, we think this is illegal' -- and there's no test out there to confirm it. This is just something that WADA on their own decided. There's no scientific tests out there to prove that this even masks and the United States Anti-doping Agency agrees. They don't think that this should be on the list and their top guy came in and testified that this shouldn't even be on the list and that they don't have a true way of testing for it" BANNED U.S. SKELETON GOLD MEDAL CONTENDER ZACH LUND AND INTERVIEWER (SOUNDBITE) (English) BANNED U.S. SKELETON ATHLETE ZACH LUND SAYING: "CAS (Court of Arbitration for Sport) felt horrible. They said they were heavy-hearted and like I was ill-served but they gave me the minimum that they could under the WADA rules and that's the unfortunate part, that shouldn't be what it is. When CAS, the highest court in sport arbitration, says 'You know we don't agree with what we have to do, this guy is not a cheat and this shouldn't be happening, but we have to' -- there's the issue. And when they say that 'This is horrible for Mr Lund and that he has been completely ill-served by the anti-doping agency'. This is what the high court says, yet we have to take away his Olympic dream. You know, Olympics for amateur athletes is everything. I compete in World Cups every year but this is what gives me sponsorships, this is what gives me everything.. this is everything and I just can't' believe that they will allow that" BANNED U.S. SKELETON GOLD MEDAL CONTENDER ZACH LUND (INTERVIEWER ASKING: "So what next for you?) (SOUNDBITE) (English) BANNED U.S. SKELETON ATHLETE ZACH LUND SAYING: "I'm going to go home and spend some time with my family -- my daughter and my parents -- and loved ones and then I'm going to start looking at the ways that I can change the system. Obviously I'm not the first person this has happened to... I'm not going to be the last person that this will happen to...they need to sit back and look at their own rules...it's happened before...I'm going to make sure that this doesn't happen to another athlete...If I got beaten on the field or I didn't make the team that's fine, you I know I did my best, but to have it taken away for something like this, it's just not right" BANNED U.S. SKELETON GOLD MEDAL CONTENDER ZACH LUND WIT INTERVIEWER
  • Embargoed: 27th February 2006 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Italy
  • Country: Italy
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVAAKYSFBLE8B25OU98QLUO0WI3A
  • Story Text: Kicked out of the Olympic Village in front of his colleagues and friends, a tearful Zach Lund told Reuters on Saturday (February 11) he would not rest until he had brought anti-doping officials to book over his ban.
    U.S. skeleton gold medal contender Lund was ordered to pack his bags at the Winter Games as his U.S. team mates prepared to march for the glitzy opening ceremony.
    The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled on Friday that Lund was not a cheat, but should be banned for one year after he said he used a hair restoration without realising that it contained an illegal ingredient.
    Lund's Olympics was over before it had begun.
    "That's just not right," he said. "The anti-doping agencies are here to protect athletes...to kick out cheaters.
    "But they said I was not cheating and still they banned me.
    "They told me I had to get out of the (athletes') village...to pack my bags," he said as tears welled up in his eyes.
    "How can that be right? I am going to try to make sure this doesn't happen any more. We are held responsible for everything. We are judged under strict liability but the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is answerable to no-one. That cannot be right.
    "I am not the first athlete this has happened to and I will not be the last.
    "Apart from losing my mother to skin cancer when I was younger this is the worst thing that has happened in my whole life."
    Lund's suspension was imposed as CAS partially upheld an appeal by WADA.
    The world agency had called on the court to ban Lund for two years after his positive test for the banned steroid-masking agent finasteride at a World Cup event in November 2005.
    The 26-year-old had spent almost four hours pleading his case on Thursday, saying hair-growth treatment contained the substance, but his dreams of Olympic glory were dashed by a three-man panel in Turin.
    Lund had originally been cleared to compete by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) after accepting a public warning from them for the failed drugs test, but after studying the full case, WADA appealed to CAS against USADA's leniency.
    "The right decision was made in the United States," Lund said.
    CAS said it had been entirely satisfied Lund was not a cheat, but that he had made a mistake and failed to check the list of prohibited substances in 2005.
    Finasteride was added to the list in January 2005.
    Lund's ban will end on November 9, 2006.
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