IOC to Probe Austria Doping Case

The International Olympic Committee formed a special panel Saturday to investigate the doping scandal surrounding Austria’s cross-country and biathlon teams at the Turin Olympics.

IOC President Jacques Rogge appointed a three-man disciplinary commission to look into all the elements of banned coach Walter Mayer’s involvement with the team.

Mayer’s presence in Italy triggered a police raid on the Austrians’ private lodgings and no-notice doping tests by the IOC on six cross-country skiers and four biathletes. The tests came back negative Friday, but the IOC and Italian police are pressing ahead with the case.

The disciplinary panel is made up of German IOC vice president and lawyer Thomas Bach, Ukrainian member and former pole vaulter Sergei Bubka and Swiss IOC executive Denis Oswald.

The IOC had indicated the panel would be formed sometime after the close of the Games today, but Rogge decided to set up the group after briefing the IOC executive board Saturday.

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Two cross-country skiers were cleared to compete in the final Olympic race after serving suspensions for high hemoglobin levels.

Nikolai Pankratov of Russia and Sergei Dolidovich of Belarus are eligible for today’s 50-kilometer freestyle race, the international ski federation said.

Pankratov failed three tests and served three five-day suspensions. Dolidovich flunked two tests.

The federation said all 12 athletes who failed one or more hemoglobin tests before and during the Games subsequently were cleared to compete.

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The Brazilian bobsled team crashed for the second time in three runs. This one appeared serious, with the sled skidding upside down for a brief time and the four men inside bouncing on their heads, but Brazil’s Marcio Silva said there were no major injuries.

“My leg hurts a little,” Silva said, “and Claudinei [Quirino] hurt his arm a little, but the important things -- neck and head -- are fine.”

The Brazilians did not qualify for a fourth run. In their second trip to the Winter Olympics, they finished last among 25 teams.

“We would have liked to have ended on a high note, but we crashed,” Silva said. “I’m happy to be going home. I want to have some barbecue and see my girlfriend.”

He said he intends to contend for a medal in Vancouver in four years.

“We want to come back ... with a more prepared team,” he said, “and hopefully classify among the top 10, maybe among the top three.”

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He couldn’t land the Hurricane, a trick that might have earned the U.S. freestyle skiing aerials team its only medal.

But early Friday morning in the quaint mountain town of Sauze d’Oulx, after a night of partying, Jeret “Speedy” Peterson landed a punch to the face of a longtime friend, breaking his nose and two of his teeth.

The incident, which according to police was fueled by alcohol, resulted in Peterson’s brief detainment, followed by his expulsion from Italy by the United States Olympic Committee and U.S. Ski and Snowboard Assn.

According to witnesses, Peterson and Mason Fuller, his friend since the second grade, had carried on long after a team party broke up at 4 a.m. Friday.

Sometime after 8 a.m., they may have mistaken the wrong building as their hotel, and when they couldn’t get through its locked doors, Peterson became belligerent.

As they were approached by police, Fuller tried to calm his friend down and Peterson reacted, throwing a punch.

Italian and U.S. security personnel got involved. Fuller was taken to a clinic, where he was treated and released, and Peterson, 24, who lives in Park City, Utah, was ultimately persuaded to leave the country. He was not arrested, nor was he charged with a crime.

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The USOC said it would donate $40,000 to the charity Right to Play, matching the amount given by gold-medal winning speedskater Joey Cheek.

Cheek donated his winnings from two medals -- $25,000 for gold, $15,000 for silver -- to the charity created by Norway’s one-time speedskating star, Johann Olav Koss.

Right to Play was launched six years ago with a goal of improving the plight of children in impoverished, war-torn areas. Right to Play, with 40 projects in 20 countries across Africa, Asia and the Middle East, has aided more than 500,000 children.

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They are eating golden doughnuts back home in honor of Japan’s only medalist at these Olympics, Shizuka Arakawa.

Arakawa won the glamour event of the Games, women’s figure skating, Thursday night, and she was not only awarded with a gold medal, but with the sweet tribute from Doughnut Plant NY in Japan. The medal-shaped doughnuts are sprinkled with gold leaf.

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Times staff writers Pete Thomas, Chris Dufresne and Bill Shaikin contributed to this report.