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Racing TO: jacques.rogge@ioc.olympic.org Dear Jacques, Please forgive the familiarity of Jacques but I got the distinct feeling from watching the Salt Lake City Games coverage that you were an athlete's person. I must admit that this is a refreshing relief from His Excellency, Juan Samaranch. Thank you for putting athletes first and for all that you did do correct the wrongs that have haunted amateur and Olympic sport for many years. I am writing to express my opinion about the cross country skiing medals won by Muehlegg, Lazutina and Danilova. With a haul of 4 golds, three silvers and a bronze, I find it appalling that they were only stripped of two gold medals. Any athlete found using illegal drugs should be stripped of all medals won in those Games and removed from eligibility from participating on all subsequent Games. As a consumer, I support the advertisers of the Olympics. As a TV viewer I watch the coverage in the USA. My watching NBC's coverage allows NBC to charge advertisers enough money to pay the IOC enough money cover fully 1/3 of it's budget. My purchasing from those advertisers helps support those companies that supplies another 1/3 of the IOC budget in advertising fees. It is time to pony up to the table Jacques and make right the Olympic image that was much tarnished by scandal before the Salt Lake City Games. The FIS and WADA and the Russian Ski Federation and probably many other organizers can be damned. You are the Olympic spirit and holder of the dream. They need the Olympics more than the Olympics needs any one sport, federation or country. Take away all medals and placings by these three athletes and award the medals to those athletes that deserve them. Secondly, run drug tests on all blood samples that you have, not just those that had high hematocrit. You have the opportunity to really expose the cheaters now. If you do not it will only get worse in Athens. You have my support to ban any Americans that you catch also. Because if you do not, the monetary funding via advertising and TV rights for the Games is going to shrink away. Hoffmann, Alsgaard, Estil and Scott all deserve gold medals. Give them to them! Botvinov, Tchepalova and Neumanova all deserve silver medals. Give them to them! Skjedal, Elofson, Tchepalova, Belmondo and Bauer all deserve bronze medals. Make it right and give them to them, now! I am planning to contact the sponsors of Muehlegg, Danilova, Lazutina and inform the ski companies that I will seek other sources of skis, boots and poles if they do not bring pressure to bear on the skiers that they sponsor to return the medals and cleanup their act. I have been at various times a cross country ski coach, competitor and worker in the sport over the last 25 years. I played a small part in helping to send athletes to the US Ski Team, collegiate programs and Junior Olympics here in the United States. I always encouraged training and good sportsmanship. I remember speaking with a US national team athlete once about using performance enhancing drugs, namely EPO. He said, really there is no more risk to using it one time than driving a car 500 miles. The risk of death is no greater, in other words, it is pretty safe. If it gives to the edge to get to where the other countries skiers are why not. Everyone is using them. Hard to argue. Ethically immoral but hard to argue. Just two things wrong with his statement. No one uses them just one time. And they are hazardous to the athlete's health short term and long term. Go visit today, the middle aged women of the East German Olympic program now that they are riddled with cancer, reproductive defects and psychological problems. By looking the other way the Olympic program let this happen. By doing half the job you are going to let this happen again. Make no mistake about it, the reason this happened is because an Olympic medal is valuable. Only you can ultimately stop it. Secondly, if everyone is using them then you can do something about that argument Jacques. Punish the the violators severely when caught and try your best to catch them. The federations can do their shameful things as they always do, but the Olympics can hold the flame high and do the right thing. A world championship medal or world cup medal is a mere shadow of an Olympic medal. You have the power and I urge you to use it, for the good the athletes and the Games themselves. If the IOC could take a medal away from Jim Thorpe, the greatest athlete of all time, you can surely take a medal away from cheaters. Please do the right thing. I am sending this letter to www.nordicskiracer.com with the hope that it will be posted and encourage other members of the family to send their own letters to you. Thank you for your consideration and most of all thanks ofr the efforts you have put in the Olympic movement already. Ernie Brumbaugh
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