Olympic notebook: Doping breakthrough

Doping breakthrough

The World Anti-Doping Agency says it expects a breakthrough within weeks to catch athletes who cheat using human growth hormone.

WADA director-general David Howman says HGH testing, including samples from Sochi Olympic athletes, should resume after being stalled by an appeal case last year.

Howman says a backlog of samples built up awaiting publication of peer-viewed results from two research projects involving 20,000 samples.

He says "in the next few weeks the publication will be accepted and therefore the test can be undertaken."

The Court of Arbitration for Sport requested additional proof of accurate HGH analysis when overturning a doping ban for two-time Olympic cross-country skiing champion Andrus Veerpalu.

The United States has chosen six-time Olympian Todd Lodwick to be the teams flagbearer at Fridays opening ceremony.

Lodwick is competing in the Nordic combined in Sochi. He is the first American to compete in six Winter Games. Lodwick was part of the team that won silver in Vancouver in 2010.

Lodwicks longevity made him the choice despite competing in a relatively low-profile event.

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Olympic notebook: Doping breakthrough