Alain Baxter (born December 26, 1973) is a professional skier from Scotland. He specialises in the slalom discipline.
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Background
He is the son of Iain and Sue Baxter, who were both British Ski Team members, and was born in Edinburgh. He is named after the 70s French skiing star Alain Penz. At 16 years of age, he was selected to the British Alpine Ski Team in 1991, and he steadily worked his way through the world rankings, making the top 100 in time for the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics.
Salt Lake City Olympics
In the Salt Lake City Olympics of 2002, Baxter made British Olympic history by becoming the first Briton to win a medal in alpine skiing. He sparked controversy at the time, by dying his hair with the Saltire cross of St Andrew: the flag of Scotland. The British Olympic Association ordered him to remove this symbol of his nationality, because they wanted to project an image of "Britishness", but the blue dye he used to try to obliterate the white saltire was a different shade, and the saltire pattern could still clearly be seen when he won his medal. Alain returned home to Aviemore to a hero's welcome and a parade around the town in an open top bus.
Medal controversy
But a few days later, Alain discovered that he had failed a drugs test. His sample contained a trace amount of methamphetamine. After an appeal, the IOC declared that Baxter was disqualified from the competition and he would have to return his medal. Baxter was able to confirm later that the trace had originated from a Vicks inhaler bought in the United States. He had been unaware that the contents were different to those found in the UK version. The International Ski Federation accepted his explanation and banned him for the minimum of 3 months.
International Ski Federation appeal
The British Ski and Snowboard Federation appealed to the Court of Arbitration in Sport. The appeal was successful and his ban was overturned. This gave the Baxter camp great hope for the next appeal to have his medal returned.
Olympic appeal
The British Olympic Association assisted with a publicly funded an appeal against the loss of his medal. The basis of the appeal was that the form of methamphetamine in the USA Vicks levAmphetamine is an inactive isomer of methamphetamine. This was a strong argument.
Strict liablity doctrine
Strict liability doctrine athletes are liable if they inadvertently take any form of potentially performance enhancing substance, and a large number of athletes have lost medals as a result. Cold Cures and other over the counter medicines are the most common sources of trace levels of Amphetamines and other uppers (stimulants).
Medal appeal controversy
The medal appeal heard by the Court of Arbitration in Sport in Lausanne rested on whither levAmphetamine was performance enhancing Vicks and other expert witnesses explained that it was a decongestant, and had negligible stimulant properties. The quote was "you could take a bucket of it with minimal affect". Dr Don Catlin maintained that the banned list did not specify isomers so all forms were on the banned list and the strict liability doctrine applied. This was particularly controversial since 100 U.S. athletes who won 19 medals tested positive for stimulants at his laboratory, and were cleared to continue completing, and Dr. Catlin was named as part of a 3 man committee that routinely allowed U.S. Olympians such as Carl Lewis to continue competing despite failing drugs tests.[1][2] The vast majority of athletes named in Wade Exum's papers tested positive for stimulants found in over-the-counter cold medicines. Most were cleared after explaining that they had taken the substances inadvertently.[3][4] The Baxter Appeal team headed up by Professor Arnold Becket a former member of the IOC medial commission thought Dr Calin's position was "inconsistent". He stated, "The things we are being told about in the USA make me very angry, particularly in relation to Alain Baxter’s case. He did not take a banned substance, as levAmphetamine was not on the list, but it was Dr Catlin’s evidence which the appeal committee believed."
Ski racing results
While his form has never quite reached the same heights as they did in Salt Lake City, Alain Baxter is still the highest ranked and most recognisable male alpine skier in the UK. His best result in World Cup is 4th at Are 11th March 2001 and he had 3 other top 10 finishes in 2001. Full results are available on the International Ski Federation website at [5][6] His brother, Noel Baxter is also an alpine skier. His cousin Lesley McKenna is a leading professional snowboarder and winner of two World Cups.
Other sports
He is also a keen player of shinty, turning out for Kincraig Shinty Club when time permits.
Notes
- ^ Puzzling tale of US doping appeals[1]
- ^ US Track & Field Coverups[2]
- ^ Sports Illustrated - Claims cast suspicion on USOC drug policy[3]
- ^ USOC Drug Czar Dr Wade Exum says athletes were able to bend drug rules[4]
- ^ FIS Site[5]
- ^ Alain Baxter FIS results[6]
