Byline: NIALL AITCHESON
THE SHOCKWAVES of the Alain Baxter drugs scandal were still reverberating around the global skiing fraternity yesterday, as Martin Bell struggled to comprehend the enormity of the situation.
Bell had spent a sleepless night at home in the Colorado resort of Vail following the shattering news from Europe, trying to measure the impact it would have on this most close-knit of sporting communities.
Even from a distance of 5,000 miles, he was not immune to the fallout.
Skiing and controversy are uneasy bedfellows. But when they do collide, the debris is often hard to clear. In most cases, it leaves a cloud of suspicion, prompting even the best of friends to question each other's integrity.
Former British No.1 Bell spent a decade enjoying the highs and lows of the pro tour. He now does promotional work for the Vail Resorts company, but his experiences on the competitive circuit have taught him that appearances can be deceptive.
'There has always been a little bit of distrust between rival skiers. They can act like they are the best of pals for half the week, but when the heat is on, they are thinking only for themselves,' Bell said. 'The camaraderie on the circuit is generally very good. Most ski resorts are not big places and you do get to know people pretty well. You are sharing the same hotels and training facilities, eating in the same restaurants and drinking in the same pubs.
'But no matter how friendly you are with someone, the competitive element within you comes out when the tournament begins.
I knew a lot of guys who would not have anything to do with their fellow racers in the build-up to competitions. They liked to go into the zone and completely shut themselves off.' Bell, whose eighth-place finish at Calgary in 1988 had been the best performance by a British skier in Olympic competition prior to Baxter's bronze medal run last month, added: 'Quite often, the biggest rivalries are between skiers from the same team. It's like Formula One. Everyone wants to be the top dog, the No.1.' While Bell believes the unique friendships which bond the world's leading skiers together will survive this hammer blow to the sport's image, he fears that the collateral damage may prove irreparable.
' Whatever happens now, the publicity surrounding Alain's situation is bound to have a knock-on effect with sponsors,' he said. 'It will be very difficult to persuade some of the major players to remain on board, as no- one is keen to be associated with something that has been tainted.' Bell, who retired from competitive skiing seven years ago, says that even if Baxter manages to win his appeal at a meeting of the IOC's medical committee in Lausanne next week, the stigma will be difficult to erase.
Bell remembers the fall- out when the Norwegian ski team turned up at a race with enhanced muscles, prompting one leading coach to accuse them of using steroids. 'Although the charge was never proven, these kind of incidents always leave a bad aftertaste,' said Bell.
According to Bell, Baxter has only one feasible excuse on which to base his defence - that he unknowingly took the banned drug methamphetamine via a cold cure. At next week's hearing, he expects Baxter's legal representatives to highlight the precedent set by Olympic sprinter Linford Christie in 1988.
Christie tested positive for traces of banned pseudo-ephydrine after finishing fourth in the 200m in Seoul.
Christie was found not guilty by a split decision after successfully proving that the substance had come from nothing more than the ginseng tea he had been drinking.
At the same Olympics, the Briton benefited from the disqualification of disgraced champion Ben Johnson-in the 100m, subsequently being promoted from bronze to silver. 'Linford was able to get off because he proved it was a genuine mistake. If Alain can do likewise, he has a chance,' Bell said.
'I think he made a genuine mistake. The drug concerned would not change his performance.
'In Alpine skiing, drugs are not really an issue, because it is more down to technique and skill.
Cross-country skiing is another story altogether. We have had a lot more incidents involving drugs in cross-country because it is 80 per cent endurance and 20 per cent skill. Alpine is 30 per cent endurance and 70 per cent skill.' This was backed up by Austrian skiing legend Hermann Maier, who said he was surprised and doubtful of the Baxter allegations.
Maier, who has been sidelined this year with a broken leg following a motorbike accident, lives in the Flachau area where Baxter has made his second home.
He told Sportsmail: 'I am very surprised, because Alain is not the sort of person I can imagine taking drugs. Even if he were, drugs don't really help you in skiing, so I don't see why he would take the risk.'
