Walter Mayer (born March 17, 1957) is an

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n Cross-country skier and coach. He won the

Vasaloppet (Swedish for 'the Vasa-race') is an annual long distance cross-country ski race held on the first Sunday of March. The course starts in the village of Berga, just south of Sälen in western Dalarna, Sweden, and ends in the town of Mora in the c ...

in 1980, and finished second in 1992. As a coach, he was banned from the

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

and

2010 Olympics )'' , nations = 82 , athletes = 2,626 , events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = February 12, 2010 , closing = February 28, 2010 , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy GreeneWayne Gretz ...

after

blood transfusion Blood transfusion is the process of transferring blood products into a person's circulation intravenously. Transfusions are used for various medical conditions to replace lost components of the blood. Early transfusions used whole blood, but mo ...

equipment was found in a house used by Austrian skiers during the

2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 ( arp, Niico'ooowu' 2002; Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; nv, Sooléí 2002; Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), was an internation ...

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

. Mayer was accused of blood doping violations and the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

(IOC) announced the ban after a three-month investigation. At the

2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially the XX Olympic Winter Games ( it, XX Giochi olimpici invernali) and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February 2006 in Turin, Italy. This marked the second t ...

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

, Mayer—who had been spotted with the Austrian team despite his suspension—fled back to Austria after a surprise overnight raid on the quarters of the Austrian skiers by Italian police. He crashed his vehicle into a police roadblock, and was immediately relieved of his coaching duties by the Austrian Ski Federation. Police found syringes and a blood transfusion machine in the home where Mayer had been staying. Claiming that he was suicidal, Mayer entered a

psychiatric hospital Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociative ...

in Austria. In an interview with ''

NEWS News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different Media (communication), media: word of mouth, printing, Mail, postal systems, broadcasting, Telecommunications, electronic communication, or through the tes ...

'', an Austrian magazine, Mayer said he was trying to kill himself when he drove into the police roadblock. He pleaded guilty to charges of civil disorder, assault, and damage to property. In March 2006, Mayer filed defamation lawsuits against

Dick Pound Richard William Duncan Pound (born March 22, 1942), better known as Dick Pound, is a Canadian swimming (sport), swimming champion, lawyer, and Spokesperson, spokesman for ethics in sport. He was the first president of the World Anti ...

, head of the

World Anti-Doping Agency The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA; french: Agence mondiale antidopage, AMA) is a foundation initiated by the International Olympic Committee based in Canada to promote, coordinate, and monitor the fight against drugs in sports. The agency's key ...

and

Jacques Rogge Jacques Jean Marie Rogge, Count Rogge (, ; 2 May 1942 – 29 August 2021) was a Belgian sports administrator and physician who served as the eighth President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) from 2001 to 2013. In 2013, Rogge beca ...

, president of the IOC. He withdrew both suits in February 2007. The IOC held hearings in April 2007 on allegations of doping by Austrian skiers at the 2006 games. On April 25 the hearings closed, resulting in the lifetime suspensions of six Austrian skiers. Banned as a result of the hearings were biathletes

Wolfgang Perner Wolfgang Perner (17 September 1967 – 1 October 2019) was an Austrian biathlete. The IOC banned Perner for life from competing in the Olympics as the result of a doping scandal at the 2006 Winter Olympics. Biography He was a part of the Austr ...

and

Wolfgang Rottmann Wolfgang Rottmann (born May 15, 1973 in Altenmarkt im Pongau) is a former biathlete from Austria. As the result of a doping scandal at the 2006 Winter Olympics, the IOC banned Rottmann for life from competing in the Olympics. Career *Wor ...

as well as cross country skiers

Martin Tauber Martin Tauber (born 4 November 1976) is an Austrian cross-country skier. He competed in the men's 15 kilometre classical event at the 2006 Winter Olympics. Doping scandal in Turin In April 2007 Tauber was banned by the International Olympic ...

, Jürgen Pinter, Johannes Eder and Roland Diethart. While the six will be unable to compete in any capacity at any future Olympic event, the ban does not affect non-Olympic sporting events. Mayer was arrested in

in March 2009 on suspicion of selling doping substances.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mayer, Walter Austrian male cross-country skiers Austrian sportspeople in doping cases Doping cases in biathlon Doping cases in cross-country skiing Vasaloppet winners 1957 births Living people