A former Austrian cross-country skier has been sentenced to a suspended 15-month prison term after pleading guilty to some of his blood doping charges at trial in Innsbruck.
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A key figure in an international scandal, Johannes Duerr's televised confession to doping last year led to raids at the Nordic skiing world championships in Austria and Germany in February.
Even though Duerr had already been caught doping at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, he didn't stop during his competition ban, he admitted in court.
He had his own blood drawn and stored by a German doctor in Erfurt who allegedly stood at the centre of an international doping network, so that Duerr could use it later for a possible comeback.
However Duerr denied the charge he played an important role in supplying the doctor with new clients.
Although fellow disgraced Austrian cross-country skiers Max Hauke and Dominik Baldauf testified Duerr connected them with the German doctor, the court followed Duerr's version.
Hauke and Baldauf are among athletes already convicted of blood doping.
"As I see it, it's impossible to race at the very top without doping," Duerr said in court.
The German doctor has been remanded in custody in Munich.
Australian Associated Press
