Bloody shocking! Austrian skier caught doping midway through blood transfusion (VIDEO)
The doping scandal at the 2019 the Nordic skiing world championships just got a bit more evident on Friday after a video of Austrian skier Max Hauke undergoing a blood transfusion was leaked online.
The video, which was released by Norwegian outlet NRK, showed the 26-year-old athlete having a blood-transfusion right before the men’s 15km race, which took place on Wednesday.
In the video, Hauke, who was visibly shocked by the unexpected police raid was asked if anybody else was in the building, to which he shook his head before turning away.
Le fondeur Max Hauke filmé par la police en pleine transfusion sanguine pendant les Mondiaux de ski nordique à Seefeld 💉💉💉 @Vorarlberg#Dopagepic.twitter.com/ZOPC3IMBqB
— Yohan Roblin (@yohanroblin) March 1, 2019
Austrian police, in cooperation with their German counterparts, arrested nine people, including five elite skiers on suspicion of doping.
One of the men detained was a doctor with reported links to doping in cycling.
All the athletes arrested in Austria were released on Friday but will have no chance to perform at the ongoing championship after the International Skiing Federation (FIS) banned them in the wake of the doping scandal.
Two Estonian skiers, including Andreas Veerpalu, the son of Estonian skiing legend and two-time Olympic champion Andrus Veerpalu, admitted their guilt and will likely be disqualified for violating anti-doping rules.
