Hans Knauss banned for 18 months, promises appeal to reduce period

Hans Knauss banned for 18 months, promises appeal to reduce period{mosimage}OBERHOFEN, Switzerland (AP) – Austria’s Hans Knauss was banned for 18 months by the International Ski Federation on Tuesday after testing positive for the banned steroid nandrolone.

Knauss had faced a possible two-year ban, but the FIS doping panel ruled he did not act intentionally.

“The athlete did not exercise adequate caution by deliberately choosing to use supplements different from the ones recommended by his association,” the FIS said.

Knauss had been provisionally suspended after testing positive at a World Cup downhill at Lake Louise, Canada, on Nov. 27, 2004. His suspension was backdated to then and will run until May 26, 2006.

Knauss shocked the ski racing world when announced the finding of the first positive sample in December. He failed the b sample test in January.

Knauss’ fourth-place result from the Lake Louise downhill was also nullified.

Knauss’ lawyer, Christian Flick, said he would appeal in an attempt to have the ban reduced to 12 months, the Austria Press Agency reported.

The 18-month ban, which would cover the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, could end the 33-year-old skier’s career.

Knauss has won seven World Cup races in 14 seasons, and was a giant slalom silver medalist at the 2003 world championships.

There have been few doping cases in Alpine skiing since Christelle Guignard of France was stripped of her 1989 world championship bronze medal in giant slalom for a positive test.

British skier Alain Baxter was stripped of his 2002 Olympic slalom bronze after testing positive for the banned stimulant methamphetamine.

-The Associated Press