Baxter stripped of Olympic medal

Olympic hero Alain Baxter was today stripped of Britain's first skiing medal at a Winter Games - because of an innocent mistake.

The 28-year-old Scot, who won his slalom bronze at Salt Lake City just under a month ago, was today ordered to hand it back within a week to Olympic chiefs for failing a drugs test.

But amid an unprecedented show of support from British Olympic officials in London this afternoon, a sombre Baxter revealed his downfall had been brought about by taking over-the-counter medication to clear a blocked nose.

He said he bought the American version of the Vicks inhaler, unaware that it contains the banned stimulant levamphetamine - a mild form of methamphetamine. The British Vicks inhaler does not contain the substance.

The man from Aviemore, known as The Highlander, was adamant that his career was not over. He still hopes to be back in competitive action at the start of next season.

Describing the trauma of learning his fate, Baxter explained: "It went from the best couple of days of my life to the worst three weeks."

The British Olympic Association insisted it was "very disappointed" by the International Olympic Committee decision and claimed that Baxter had suffered "a dreadful punishment" for a modest offence.

"In no way can he be described as a drugs cheat," said BOA chairman Craig Reedie. Taking its usual hard line, however, the IOC executive board - which operates a "strict liability" rule demanding that athletes are solely responsible for what is found in their bodies - could find no mitigating circumstances.

The Scot has already received a massive vote of sympathy from both colleagues and opponents after revealing that having used the British Vicks inhaler since he was a child, he was convinced that the American product must be exactly the same. A couple of days before his competition, he purchased an American version at a drugstore.

His critical mistake was to fail to clear the medication with the British team doctors, forcing the BOA chief executive Simon Clegg to concede: "Everyone has to accept a degree of responsibility. "

Baxter, who held up both the British and US inhalers at today's news conference, said: "It never crossed my mind that the American version was different." He added: "I didn't even know what methamphetamine was." He has subsequently learned that the type used in the American inhaler is not considered in any way performance-enhancing by experts. "The amount I had in my sample was barely traceable," he said.

It is understood the International Skiing Federation sympathises and he is unlikely to get more than the minimum three-month suspension.

Austrian Benjamin Raich, who finished fourth in the slalom, is expected to turn down Baxter's medal because as a friend, he believes him to be entirely innocent.

Baxter said he would consult his lawyers about a possible challenge.

Alain Baxter - fact file