Winter Olympics in fresh drug scandal with hundreds of stars dodging doping bans
Secret documents which have been leaked contain the results of more than 10,000 blood tests and showed that a third of all medals - including 91 golds - were won by skiers who recorded suspicious test results
THE Winter Olympics has been hit by a fresh doping scandal after secret papers revealed up to a third of all medallists have provided dodgy drug test results.
Hundreds of skiers have escaped bans despite recording unusual blood test scores, with documents showing some skiers had blood so dangerously thick they should have been in hospital.
The database contains the results of more than 10,000 blood tests from 2,000 winter sports stars, according to .
It also shows that about a third of all medals, including 91 golds, have been won in the Olympics and world championships since 2001 by skiers who have recorded suspicious tests.
Russia, which has been banned from competing under its own flag at this year's Olympics, tops the list of cheating countries.
The secret data also reveals that more than 50 South Korean skiers on the qualification list recorded unusual blood test scores, suggesting they could have cheated in the past but escaped punishment.
The fresh doping scandal comes just days before the opening ceremony in Pyeongchang, South Korea this Friday.
The database was leaked to The Sunday Times and German broadcaster ARD by a whistleblower who had serious concerns about the Games' integrity.
Two anti-doping experts, who looked at the data, found that many of the skiers had used two common blood doping techniques. Athletes either injected themselves with the banned drug erythropoitin (EPO) or were given transfusions of their own blood that had been removed earlier.
James Stray-Gundersen, an American physician who worked in the past with the International Ski Federation (FIS), told The Sunday Times: "There are a significant number of medallists that had abnormal or highly abnormal blood profile results that suggested there is a significant incidence of doping."
The experts noted that it was common to see extreme blood scores among athletes who won medals in main events.
And they focused on results from top skiers who won medals in cross-country events at the Olympics and world championships since 2001.
A total of more than 290 skiers recorded blood tests that suggested they may have been doping. That figure makes up one in six of those recorded on the database.
The scandal has seen 254 Olympic and world championship medals won by skiers who had blood tests classed as "likely doping" or "suspicious".
More than 100 medals were won by skiers from Germany, Sweden, Norway and Italy who had suspicious test results.
But Russia topped the list with a total of 60 medals awarded to athletes who may have been using banned substances.
Organisers had hoped for a fresh start following the 2014 Sochi Games, during which Russian secret agents tampered with blood test scores in labs.
The Russian Olympic Committee is pushing for many of the same athletes to be allowed to compete in South Korea such as cross-country skiing gold medallist Alexander Legkov.
Legkov received a life-time ban that was overturned in a controversial ruling last week by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
The FIS said it did not comment on “suspicious” results and that the World Anti-Doping Agency was “more than satisfied” with its anti-doping efforts.