FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2006
SPORTS
Catching some air
Lionel Cirenne/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
U. S. snowboarder Danny Kass jumps during the training session for the Men's Olympic Snowboard Half Pipe competition in Bardonecchia, Italy, on Thursday. The Torino 2006 Winter Olympic Games begin today.
Skiers suspended from competition
OLYMPIC GAMES
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
TURIN, Italy — Eight crosscountry skiers competing in the Olympics, including two Americans, were suspended for five days after they were found to have excessive hemoglobin levels, the International Ski Federation announced Thursday.
None of the skiers suspended were considered serious medal contenders, and it was not immediately clear whether any would be kept from competing under the ban. It was not clear when the ban began.
Calls seeking comment from
gen from the lungs to all cells. Iliicit strategies such as the use of synthetic hemoglobin and blood transfusions have been used by some athletes to increase the oxygen in the muscles.
the ski federation and the International Olympic Committee were not immediately returned early Friday.
The American athletes are Kikkan Randall, 23, from Anchorage, Alaska, and Leif Zimmermann, 22, of Bozeman, Mont. The others are Sean Crooks of Canada, Sergey Dalidovich of Belarus, Jean Marc Gaillard of France, Aleksandr Latzukin of Belarus, Natalia Matveeva of Russia, and Evi Sachenbacher of Germany.
This was the first hint of a drug scandal at this year's games, where the IOC has said it plans to conduct some 1,200 drug tests. As of Tuesday, some 101 IOC drug tests had been conducted with no positive results.
The cross-country testing was done by FIS, which said it sampled 224 athletes over two days this week. Athletes are training for the games at Pragelato.
U. S. Nordic director Luke Bodensteiner could not immediately be reached for comment early Friday.
Under ski federation rules, athletes found to have elevated hemoglobin levels are barred from competing for five days after the date of the test. The federation did not specify what day the tests were administered.
The federation said the competition ban is not a disciplinary action, but taken to "protect the health of the athlete."
Cross-country competition begins Sunday, with the men's and women's pursuit, and continues Tuesday with the men's and women's team sprint.
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN 3B
▼ NHL
Hemoglobin is the part of a red blood cell that carries oxy-
Wiretap catches the 'Great One'
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
TRENTON, N.J. — Wayne Gretzky was recorded on a wiretap talking to the alleged financier of a gambling ring, discussing how the hockey great's wife could avoid being implicated, a person with knowledge of the investigation told The Associated Press on Thursday.
Gretzky, coach and partowner of the Phoenix Coyotes, can be heard on wiretaps made within the past month talking about his wife with assistant coach Rick Tocchet, the person said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing.
Jones has not been charged.
Authorities say from Dec. 29 through Feb. 5 — the day of the Super Bowl — bettors placed a total of $1.7 million in wagers with the ring run by a New Jersey state trooper, Tocchet and a South Jersey man.
Gretzky's wife, actress Janet Jones, allegedly bet at least $100,000 on football games over the course of the investigation by state authorities, the person said.
Investigators say about a half-dozen current NHL players placed bets with the ring and are looking into whether anyone involved in the 5-year-old operation, which authorities said had a connection to organized crime in Philadelphia and southern New Jersey, wagered on NHL
There is no evidence that Gretzky placed any bets, according to the person.
All face charges of promoting gambling, money laundering and conspiracy and are scheduled to be arraigned in Superior Court in Mount Holly on Feb. 21, the state Attorney General's office said Thursday.
games. Gretzky is not the main focus of the probe, the person said.
The Star-Ledger of Newark, citing unidentified law enforcement sources, first reported of a wiretap involving Gretzky in Thursday's newspapers. The newspaper also reported that Jones bet $500,000 during the investigation, including $75,000 on the Super Bowl.
Earlier in the week, Gretzky denied any involvement in the ring.
"My love for her (Jones) is deeper than anything. The reality is, I'm not involved, I wasn't involved and I'm not going to be involved. Am I concerned for both of them? Sure there's concern from me. I'm more worried about them than me. I'm like you guys, I'm trying to figure it all out," Gretzky said Tuesday.
Gretzky did not attend the Coyotes practice in Phoenix on Thursday. He would not be available until after Thursday night's game against the Dallas Stars in Phoenix and the team would not comment, said Coyotes spokesman Rich Nairn.
Lawyers involved in the case said details of the three-month investigation should not be made public.
"I have never been involved in a case where the prosecution has engaged in such inappropriate conduct in terms of making investigators available to the press, appearing on nationally syndicated television," said Kevin Marino, a lawyer for Tocchet, who was granted an indefinite leave from the NHL Wednesday. "It's improper, it's unwarranted and I will not tolerate it."
"We are not going to try this case in the press and we're not going to let them either," he said.