The 2007 Nordic World Ski Championships in Sapporo (Japan) started today with an announcement from the FIS that six athletes have been given five-day suspensions due to high haemoglobin levels. The high levels were detected in pre-competition blood testing. The six athletes will be able to compete in the February 22nd to March 4th meet if they clear a second test. The athletes are Voronin Konstantin (Russia), Dmitry Matveev (Russia), Jochen Strobl (Italy), Alen Abramovic (Croatia), Sergei Dolidovich (Belarus) and Reto Burgermeister (Switzerland)....The FIS has stated that the suspensions are not a punishment and served to protect the health of the athletes. No disciplinary measures will be taken based on these tests, it said.
The Championships started like no other. For the first time, the cross-country sprint races will start and finish inside, in the Sapporo Dome, which is a 42,000-seat facility that was built for the 2002 soccer World Cup. The stadium is equipped with a giant moveable grass field that will be covered with snow and rolled into the building for the sprint races. After starting in the stadium, the athletes will exit through a giant door before coming back into the building to cross the finish line.
See:
http://www.skiracing.com/
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