The cross-country skiing events at the 2002 Winter Olympics were marred by drug problems. The winners of three races were disqualified after blood tests showed that three skiers had overly high red blood cell counts indicating the use of darbepoetin, a drug used to treat anemia. At the time, the drug was not specifically listed in the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) list of banned substances, but the Olympic rules generally prohibit doping of any kind, in accordance with its charter. After two years and several lawsuits in Olympic and Swiss courts, the skiers in question (Johann Mühlegg of Spain, and Larissa Lazutina and Olga Danilova of Russia) were stripped of all their medals from the 2002 Games.

See the external links below for the official IOC press releases containing detailed information of the doping cases and their resolution, including initial, intermediate, and final amended results. This article gives the final medalists as decided on by the IOC in early 2004.

Medal summary Medal table

Men's events

2 × 10 km pursuit 49:48.9Not awarded 49:52.9 15 km classical 37:07.4 37:43.4 37:50.8 30 km freestyle mass start 1:11:31.01:11:32.3 1:11:42.7 50 km classical 2:06:20.8 2:06:44.5 2:08:41.5 4 × 10 km relay Anders AuklandFrode EstilKristen SkjeldalThomas Alsgaard1:32.45.4Fabio MajGiorgio Di CentaPietro Piller CottrerCristian Zorzi 1:32:45.8Jens Filbrich Andreas SchlütterTobias AngererRené Sommerfeldt 1:33:34.5 Sprint 2:56.9 2:57.0 2:57.2

Women's events

2 × 5 km pursuit 25:09.925:10.025:11.1 10 km classical 28:05.628:09.9 28:45.8 15 km freestyle mass start 39:54.440:01.3 40:02.7 30 km classical 1:30:57.11:31:01.6 1:31:36.3 4 × 5 km relay Manuela HenkelViola BauerClaudia KünzelEvi Sachenbacher49:30.6Marit BjørgenBente SkariHilde G. PedersenAnita Moen 49:31.9Andrea Huber Laurence RochatBrigitte Albrecht-LoretanNatascia Leonardi Cortesi 50:03.6 Sprint 3:10.63:12.2 3:12.7

Participating NOCs Forty-four nations competed in the cross-country skiing events at Salt Lake City.

See also Cross-country skiing at the 2002 Winter Paralympics

References

External links Official Results Book – Cross-country skiing IOC Announces Annulment of the Results of Larissa Lazutina from the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic Winter Games and Amends Results Accordingly – IOC press release, 29 June 2003 IOC Executive Board disqualifies Muehlegg and Danilova from the Salt Lake City Games – IOC press release, 28 February 2004