By Amy Shipley and Liz Clarke
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, February 7, 2006

TURIN, Italy, Feb. 6 -- Athletes who test positive for banned substances during the Winter Games will be subject to criminal proceedings in Italian court, but the nation's police will not conduct random searches for drugs in the athletes' village, an Italian government official said Monday.

Despite months of pleas for a moratorium on the enforcement of Italy's strict anti-doping laws during the Olympics from sports officials, Italian legislators have insisted that the laws remain in place, meaning athletes could face penalties beyond bans from their sports if they test positive.

"In Italy, we have very strict anti-doping laws," said International Olympic Committee member Mario Pescante, also the Olympics' government supervisor who led negotiations on the issue. "If any athlete is positive, in that case the Italian court will intervene. No exceptions."

The Italian government, however, agreed to allow the IOC to conduct the drug-testing operations, as it does at every Olympic Games, with the World Anti-Doping Agency assisting. Some 1,200 random and in-competition tests will be conducted on the 2,500 competitors.

Pescante added that police will not conduct random searches in attempts to sniff out drugs. The IOC has said it would welcome searches but only if police had evidence or strong reason to believe drugs were available on the Olympic campus.

Athletes who test positive would be unlikely to face jail time, though Italian law offers a maximum two-year penalty, Pescante said.

Pescante added that hyperbaric or oxygen chambers, common among athletes seeking to build endurance, would be banned only from the Olympic Village. Such chambers are illegal under Italian law.

Todd Lodwick collapsed in a heap after completing his frenzied leg of the 15-kilometer cross-country race in the Nordic combined team competition at the 2002 Olympics. And when the results were posted, confirming the fact that the Germans had vaulted past the United States to win the bronze medal, Lodwick, who was barely conscious and still sucking oxygen, huddled with his three American teammates and wept.

"We had a medal ripped away from us," Lodwick said Monday, after arriving in Turin for his fourth and final Games. "It's a little bit of payback time."

Though four years have passed since the United States finished a distant fourth at Salt Lake City, Lodwick, 29, refuses to discuss the heart-wrenching day. "It wasn't the athletes' fault" is all he had to say about it, declining to elaborate. "I was bitter about it for two years."

His teammate Bill Demong, 25, is more forthcoming.

No American had ever won an Olympic medal in Nordic combined, but with Lodwick and Demong anchoring the 2002 team, there was reason to believe that drought would end. The United States stood in third after the ski-jumping portion of the event, which was held the first day. Demong recalls the team going to bed that night confident they'd end up on the podium after the 15km cross-country race, with either bronze or silver medals dangling from their necks.

But in the first leg of the race, it became clear that the Germans had hit on a superior ski wax. German skiers who shouldn't have been overtaking Lodwick and Demong were flying past them on the downhill stretches. And no matter how hard the Americans fought, they couldn't make up the deficit.

To this day, it's unclear exactly what the German team's technical staff figured out. The science of ski wax, Demong explains, is like black magic: mysterious, potent and guarded with secrecy.

"When we finished that race, we couldn't believe that we hadn't become the first [U.S.] Nordic combined team to win an Olympic medal," Demong said. "We all put ourselves out on the very edge for that race. I remember we all cried together. I mean, it was unbelievable. You can be bitter about it and say, 'We got screwed.' Or you can say, 'Their wax techs did a great job and figured something special out.' "

U.S. skier Kristina Koznick might miss the Olympics because of a knee injury, although she's putting off surgery in hopes of being able to rehab enough to compete.

Koznick wrote on her personal Web site that she partially tore a knee ligament during training in Ofterschwang, Germany, on Saturday.

Aiming to participate in what would be her third and final Winter Games, Koznick wrote: "I know it is a long shot, but the fighter in me can't let go. Hope is a very powerful thing." . . .

Italian skier Giorgio Rocca, a favorite in the men's slalom, will take the Athletes' Oath during Opening Ceremonies on Friday night. . . .

Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Bret Hedican will replace Los Angeles Kings defenseman Aaron Miller on the U.S. men's hockey team roster. A back injury forced Miller to miss the Olympics.

Petr Prucha of the New York Rangers is doubtful to play for the Czech Republic because of a sprained right medial knee ligament. The Czechs have not named a replacement.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.