Skier settles lawsuit over steroid flap
NEW HAVEN, Conn. --An Austrian skier who missed the 2006 Olympics after testing positive for a steroid settled a lawsuit against a company he claims sold him a tainted product, his attorney said Thursday.
Howard Jacobs, lawyer for Hans Knauss, says the lawsuit against Ultimate Nutrition was settled in federal court in Connecticut. Details of the confidential settlement were not disclosed.
"He's very happy with the terms of the settlement," Jacobs said.
Speaking generally, Jacobs said studies have shown contamination is a problem in the industry which he says is unregulated.
"What's in the product is not always what's on the label," Jacobs said.
Telephone messages were left with the Farmington-based company and its attorney.
In 2005, the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld Knauss' 18-month doping ban, finding him negligent for using nutritional supplements containing steroids.
Knauss appealed the ban, hoping the court would reduce it to one year, which would have allowed him to ski in the 2006 Winter Olympics. But a three-man panel said the 18-month penalty was "fair and reasonable."
"I have never taken any illegal medication knowingly," Knauss said at the time.
Knauss tested positive for the steroid nandrolone at a World Cup downhill at Lake Louise, Alberta, on Nov. 27, 2004. He could have faced a two-year ban, but the international ski federation imposed a lesser penalty, saying Knauss did not act intentionally.
Knauss, who has retired, won seven World Cup races in 14 seasons and took silver in the giant slalom at the 2003 world championships. 