Dear All,

I wanted to send out a pre-emptive report before some odd news of Robel Teklemariam reaches us through less understanding channels. Robel has been prohibited from starting the first races of the Olympics and placed on a five-day ban from international competition as a result of a high-hemoglobin test. I must first stress that this IS NOT A POSITIVE DOPING TEST as many Associated Press outlets are WRONGLY REPORTING, and that Robel (along with 11 other athletes — including two Americans) are the victims of a POOR policy designed to impede dopers and catch cheaters. Having been involved with high-level cross country skiing for over a decade, I can emphatically say with NO doubt that neither Robel nor the Americans are doping. (To put it bluntly, none of them ski well enough to be on the dope. None of them have enough money to be on the dope.)

To explain further: Hemoglobin counts are counts of the red blood cells in a body. If a skier uses doping methods, this count can rise to abnormally high levels, levels that can be considered dangerous. Similarly IF A SKIER has spent considerable time at altitude or is genetically predisposed towards having a high blood count (as most endurance athletes in fact are) they may NATURALLY come close to the International Ski Federations expectations for hemoglobin counts. Several of the athletes that are banned from the opening races (Lief Zimmerman of Montana, Kikkan Randall of Alaska) have had VERY HIGH hemoglobin counts since they were juniors. Robel, in all likelihood, did not know his count was high given the relatively modest budget he has to put towards his skiing. The American skiers on this list are not in jeopardy of losing any part of their Olympic experience, provided they are able to pass the test in five days. (Things as simple as hydration, sleep, stress and altitude can vastly affect these numbers.) The Americans were, in fact, NOT scheduled to start the earliest races. Robel's goal, however, was to race all races at the Olympics as part of a celebration of his country in skiing. This will not happen and that is a bummer.

I hope that the inflammatory reports that are moving quickly through the Nordic ski media remain there, but Robel is scheduled to be on national news and this may hamper that. In any case, should this become public fodder (unlikely, but possible) please set the record straight. The integrity of the CRMS ski program is at stake, as are Robel's efforts.

Best,

Andrew Gardner