TURIN, Italy -- Eight cross-country skiers competing in the Olympics, including two Americans, were suspended for five days after they were found to have excessive hemoglobin levels, the International Ski Federation announced Thursday.\nIt was not immediately clear when the suspensions took effect or whether any of the skiers would be kept from competing at the Olympics.\nCalls seeking comment from the ski federation were not immediately returned \nearly Friday.\nThe suspensions marked the first hint of a drug scandal at this year's games, where the IOC has said it plans to conduct some 1,200 drug tests. As of Tuesday, more than 100 IOC drug tests had been conducted with no positive results.\nThe cross-country testing was done by the ski federation, which said it sampled 224 athletes over two days this week. Athletes are training for the games at Pragelato.\nHemoglobin is the part of a red blood cell that carries oxygen from the lungs to all cells and can increase endurance. Illicit strategies such as the use of synthetic hemoglobin and blood transfusions have been used by some athletes to increase the oxygen in the muscles.\nThe American athletes are Kikkan Randall, 23, from Anchorage, Ala., and Leif Zimmermann, 22, of Bozeman, Mont. The others are: Sean Crooks of Canada, Sergey Dalidovich of Belarus, Jean Marc Gaillard of France, Aleksandr Latzukin of Belarus, Natalia Matveeva of Russia, and Evi Sachenbacher of Germany.\nSachenbacher won gold in the 2002 Salt Lake City Games in the women's relay, and silver in the women's sprint. She is currently seventh in World Cup rankings.\nU.S. Nordic director Luke Bodensteiner could not immediately be reached for comment early Friday. The International Olympic Committee declined to comment.\nThe federation said the competition ban is not a disciplinary action, but taken to "protect the health of the athlete."\nUnder ski federation rules, athletes found to have elevated hemoglobin levels are barred from competing for five days after the date of the test. The federation did not specify what day the tests were administered.\nCross-country competition begins Sunday, with the men's and women's pursuit, and continues Tuesday with the men's and women's team sprint.\nThis is not the first time that hemoglobin has tainted Olympic skiing.\nIn 2002 in Salt Lake City, Russia was unable to compete in the women's 20-kilometer cross-country ski relay after Larissa Lazutina was disqualified for having high hemoglobin levels.\nLazutina later was stripped of the gold medal she won in the 30-kilometer classic-style race after she tested positive for the performance-enhancing drug darbepoetin.\nAlso testing for high hemoglobin at those games was Johann Muehlegg of Spain, who lost his gold medal in the 50-kilometer classical race after testing positive, also for darbepoetin.\nRandall, who goes by the nickname "Kikkanimal," has won several national titles and competed at the Salt Lake City Games. She is a sprint specialist; her aunt, Betsy Haines, competed in the 1980 Olympics in cross-country and her uncle, Chris, was on the 1976 team.\nZimmermann is competing in his first Olympics.
8 Olympians suspended after failing drug tests
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