Austrians’ Reaction Is Dopey

The beauty of eating out in Italy is that they try to fill you up. That’s what Harald Wurm and a table of his Austrian ski team pals discovered a few days ago when they ordered pizza and were stunned to see what came with it:

A taste of Italy’s finest, and we don’t mean wine.

“Are you from Austria?” asked one of the two policemen.

“Yes,” Wurm said.

“Take us to your rooms.”

The entourage headed to the athletes’ village, Wurm said, where the police, acting on a tip, proceeded to empty drawers, dump suitcases, lift mattresses and rummage through trash cans, looking for evidence of performance-enhancing drugs. Too bad nobody brought a camcorder along; this would’ve made the next episode of “Cops.”

Once done, and after failing to find a serum stronger than mouthwash, according to Wurm, they left, leaving the mess for the Austrians, or one very discouraged housekeeper, to clean up.

Authorities have said that raids at a number of athletes’ residences uncovered syringes, unlabeled medicine and a blood transfusion machine.

So you can guess Wurm’s excuse for finishing 24th in the cross-country sprint.

“It was difficult to concentrate on the sport,” he said.

He and the other Austrian cross-country skiers and biathletes have so far been found guilty by association with Olympic Public Enemy No. 1, Austrian Nordic ski coach Walter Mayer, who was thrown out of the 2002 Salt Lake City Games for doping, then banned from future Games through 2010. Mayer sneaked into the mountains north of Turin anyway, long enough to take a picture with members of the biathlon team, long enough to become a blip on the Olympic radar screen.

What came next was straight out of a crime flick: Somebody alerted the International Olympic Committee, which alerted the Italian police, which sprang into action too late to catch Mayer, who evidently was tipped off himself. He sped off and headed for home. According to reports, he was just across the Austrian border when the escape took its toll and he took a roadside nap. When police rapped on his car, he awoke, started the car, struck a policeman and then crashed into a blockade. When he was taken into custody, he mumbled something about suicide and was taken to a psych ward, where he remains.

Obviously, there’s enormous suspicion about his presence and what he might have done. Sports officials, legal authorities and possibly the courts will decide.

But what about the Austrians?

“We are sportsmen,” said Martin Stockinger, who finished 20th in the cross-country sprint. “That is all.”

They’re also innocent of doping, at least so far. Two raids were conducted on their rooms, one of them just before dawn Sunday, just hours before the 40-kilometer relay team was to compete. Without getting much sleep, the team finished dead last and the relay members felt cheated. The cross-country skiers and biathletes were also subjected to testing. The results of those tests have not yet been announced.

“I was angry,” said Wurm, who said the raid made him restless, resulting in his losing sleep before his race. “It was unfair.”

Was it?

Here’s what was unfair: How did the Austrian ski coaches and authorities allow a scoundrel to infiltrate their compound, here at the Olympics, of all places?

The blame lies with them and even the athletes who didn’t blow the whistle the moment they saw him. The Italian police had just cause to ransack the rooms, not only because Mayer left a trail that stretched all the way to Salt Lake City, where in the 2002 Games a hotel maid found blood transfusion equipment supposedly belonging to him; but also because doping is a crime in Italy. This was serious stuff. They cops weren’t going to just shrug and head for the nearest doughnut shop.

The raid was greeted mostly by cheers by the rest of the world.

“It’s great that the cheaters are getting caught, or at least chased,” said Chris Cook, a U.S. cross-country sprinter. “I’m all for [Mayer’s] two-year ban, and to be honest, stiffer penalties wouldn’t hurt. Any time you see an athlete who’s obviously on something, it takes away from the sport. People can’t trust us, can’t trust that what they’re seeing is real.”

Getting rid of drugs will never happen; sorry for the pessimistic outlook. But at least the influx of dopers could be slowed if more countries would police themselves. There need to be more whistle-blowers and fewer heads looking the other way. Obviously, a snitch could face a measure of ostracism. On the other hand, that person would also receive a measure of hero status, at least among good and pure athletes who want to straighten out their sport.

Too bad nobody from Austria came forward to accept this prize.

Instead, according to the reports, one Austrian threw a bag containing needles (but no dope) out the window when police conducted one of the raids; and two other Austrians, who were done competing but still hanging around, were sent home.

Of course, none of this did a pair of cross-country sprinters any good.

“I was not good for the race, I am very tired, my head is not free,” Stockinger said.

And what lesson was learned from this?

“It is very hard to eat pizza and deal with the police,” Wurm said.