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08. 04. 09. - 12:00

´SoKo Doping´ got Budapest blood centrifuge tip from Matschiner

By Thomas Hochwarter

Doping investigators have revealed that former 1,500-metre runner Stefan Matschiner led them to the blood centrifuge recently secured in Budapest.

Gerald Tatzgern, a spokesman for the Federal Crime Office (BK), said Matschiner had told "SoKo Doping" investigators about the gadget, which was then discovered in his flat in the Hungarian capital.

Matschiner is currently under arrest while investigations continue. He has recently been accused by his former protégé, cyclist Bernhard Kohl, as well by triathlete Lisa Hütthaler of having supplied them with doping substances.

Investigators are examining the blood centrifuge and hope to find fingerprints and DNA traces. BK spokesman Tatzgern said results could be expected after Easter.

Tatzgern dismissed media claims the centrifuge had been acquired by the Vienna-based Humanplasma institute, which has also been a target of investigations. The newspaper Kurier reported that athletes had headed to that venue in the middle of the night for blood manipulation. The paper added that such procedures had been going on for years.

Tatzgern revealed investigators had learned the names of several suspicious athletes from statements made by Matschiner, Kohl and Hütthaler.

"It is up to the investigators to clarify whether those people had something to do with it," Tatzgern said.

Lisa Hütthaler, the former military triathlete World Champion, raised eyebrows yesterday (Tues) when she announced the end of her career – only one day after her ban from competition had been reduced to just 18 months. Initially, the 25-year-old had been given a tough six-year penalty, but the Austrian Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) decided to reduce the ban significantly.

Hütthaler explained: "My past doping and the mental and physical consequences of it have had an effect on me. Now, other things have priority for me."

Hütthaler said she told investigators "all I know about doping" and confessed everything she had done in the past few years. The Lower Austrian stressed she had also provided details that otherwise might never have been uncovered in a bid to reveal everything and make a new start.

"I took the wrong turn at some point and made mistakes. Therefore, I am taking full responsibility," she said.

Austrian Times

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