February 10, 2006 – Sean Crooks, a member of the Canadian Olympic
Cross-Country Team, was issued a five-day start prohibition on
Thursday after pre-competition blood testing carried out by the FIS
revealed a haemoglobin level slightly above international standards;
however, his planned competition starts at the 2006 Olympic Winter
Games do not stand to be affected.

“Sean is recognized in our program as having a naturally high
haemoglobin level, an average that places him just below the
threshold of 17.0 for men,” said Al Maddox, executive director of
Cross Country Canada. “The fact that today’s sample was taken
following a long training session was unfortunate. The dehydrated
state will often produce a higher reading.”

The pre-screening of all registered competitors for haemoglobin
levels is part of standard FIS anti-doping control procedures, and is
implemented as a precautionary health measure. Crooks was one of
eight cross-country skiers issued a prohibition, which the FIS said
in a statement is undertaken “to protect the health of the athlete.”

Testing on Thursday produced a haemoglobin value of 17.1 for Crooks,
a shade above the FIS threshold for male competitors. The 22-year-old
native of Thunder Bay, Ont. has displayed a naturally high level in
past testing, averaging 16.7 in 2002-03 when measured at low altitude
and using five separate tests over that season.

In two days of testing this week, 224 cross-country and Nordic
combined athletes were measured for haemoglobin levels. The other
cross-country skiers issued a five-day start prohibition on Thursday
were Americans Kikkan Randall and Leif Zimmerman, Sergey Dalidovich
and Aleksandr Latzukin on Belarus, France’s Jean Marc Gaillard,
Russia’s Natalia Matveeva and Germany’s Evi Sachenbacher.

A follow-up procedure will be conducted on Monday, February 13, to
re-test the haemoglobin levels of the eight cross-country ski
athletes.

“Both Sean and the coaching staff are confident he will pass the
follow-up test on Monday,” said Maddox.

Cross Country Canada is the governing body of cross-country skiing in
Canada. Its 45,000 members are athletes, coaches and officials,
including members of the Canadian Cross-Country Ski Team and Canadian
Disabled Cross-Country Ski Team. Cross-country skiing is Canada’s
optimal winter sport and recreational activity with more than one
million Canadians participating annually.