Report: cross-country skiers under suspicion over blood counts

Pyeongchang, South Korea (dpa) - Almost one in two of all cross-country skiing medals at Olympic Games and world championships between 2001 and 2017 were won by athletes who had one or more conspicuous blood counts, according to a report published Sunday. Secret data on more than 10,000 blood tests by nearly 2,000 winter sports athletes has been leaked to an investigative team of reporters showing that a total of 313 medals - including 91 golds - are under suspicion.The report comes just days before the start of the Pyeongchang Olympics and follows research by a doping team from German broadcaster ARD, the Britain‘s Sunday Times, Swedish television SVT and the Swiss digital magazine Republik.The database comes from a whistleblower "who seriously cares about the integrity of the games," the ARD report said.A natural cause for the unusual levels of suspicious blood counts shown in the tests is thought highly unlikely, it said.The data also reveals that more than 50 cross-country skiers on the qualification list for the Pyeongchang Games showed abnormal blood test values. This suggests "that they may have cheated in the past and got away without sanction," the ARD report said.