Zach Lund
Encyclopedia
Zach Lund is an American
skeleton racer
who has competed since 2000. He won two bronze medals at the FIBT World Championships
with one in 2007
(men's skeleton) and one in 2008
(mixed bobsleigh-skeleton team event). He finished #1 in World Cup standings in 2007.
. He is the youngest of 5 children. Zach currently attends Westminster College, Salt Lake City UT, and graduated from the Judge Memorial Catholic High School in 1998. His second cousin, Seth Gillespie, claims Zach as "the only cool person he knows".
, but did not compete in the 2006 Winter Olympics
due to disqualification for using finasteride
, a drug that was removed from the banned list three years later. He was stripped of his second place finish in the Calgary
World Cup event after testing positive for this medication, and a one year suspension was issued on February 10, 2006.
Lund said he was using finasteride to combat baldness
and that he declared the use of the substance on medical forms. Records show that Lund had been using finasteride (in its commercial hair-restoration form, Propecia) for seven years until his suspension.
Finasteride has been on the banned list since 2005; Lund claims he last checked the list in 2004. "I've been losing my hair since I was a teenager and I've had a prescription for the last seven years and it was never an issue until this year," Lund told freestyle skiing analyst Nikki Stone (Yahoo! Sports, Feb. 10, 2006). "Whenever I've been tested, I always let them know that I was taking [Propecia]. I never had anything to hide."
A panel on the Court of Arbitration for Sport
believed Lund and wrote in its ruling that "it was entirely satisfied that Mr. Lund was not a cheat...But, unfortunately, in 2005, he made a mistake."
He returned to the World Cup circuit in 2006 and won the overall World Cup title for the 2006-2007 season
.
Alpha-reductase inhibitors, a class of masking agents which used to be banned in- and out-of-competition, were removed from the 2009 list. This class of substances, which includes for example finasteride, has been rendered ineffective as masking agents of steroids through close consideration of steroid profiles by antidoping laboratories. (WADA Q&A: 2009 Prohibited List September 25, 2008)
Mr. Lund earned a second chance, and will compete at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
in Vancouver
. He finished in fifth place overall in the Skeleton
race, 0.52 seconds short of a medal. In many circles, Lund is given credit as the man who popularized the sport and made many children dream of becoming a "Skeletor"!!
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
skeleton racer
Skeleton (sport)
Skeleton is a fast winter sliding sport in which an individual person rides a small sled down a frozen track while lying face down, during which athletes experience forces up to 5g. It originated in St. Moritz, Switzerland as a spin-off from the popular British sport of Cresta Sledding...
who has competed since 2000. He won two bronze medals at the FIBT World Championships
FIBT World Championships
The FIBT World Championships, part of the Fédération Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing , have taken place on an annual basis in non-Winter Olympic years since 1930. A two-man event was included in 1931 with a combined championship occurring in 1947...
with one in 2007
FIBT World Championships 2007
The FIBT World Championships 2007 took place in St. Moritz, Switzerland for the record twenty-first time, doing so previously in 1931 , 1935 , 1937 , 1938 , 1939 , 1947, 1955, 1957, 1959, 1965, 1970, 1974, 1977, 1982, 1987, 1989 , 1990 , 1997 , 1998 , and 2001...
(men's skeleton) and one in 2008
FIBT World Championships 2008
The FIBT World Championships 2008 ran February 11–24, 2008 in Altenberg, Germany for the fifth time, having done so in 1991 , 1994 , 1999 , and 2000 . It is the first time Altenberg has hosted all of the events at one championship...
(mixed bobsleigh-skeleton team event). He finished #1 in World Cup standings in 2007.
Personal life
Zach was born and raised in Salt Lake City, UtahSalt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census, the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197...
. He is the youngest of 5 children. Zach currently attends Westminster College, Salt Lake City UT, and graduated from the Judge Memorial Catholic High School in 1998. His second cousin, Seth Gillespie, claims Zach as "the only cool person he knows".
Doping controversy
Lund took part in the 2005-6 Skeleton World Cup2005/2006 Skeleton World Cup
The 2005/2006 Skulls and Bones World Cup took place from September 2005 to February 2006 parallel with the bobsleigh Europe Cup and America's Cup competitions.-October:October 31 to November 6 Lake Placid, New York, USA *America's Cup Competition...
, but did not compete in the 2006 Winter Olympics
2006 Winter Olympics
The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XX Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in Turin, Italy from February 10, 2006, through February 26, 2006. This marked the second time Italy hosted the Olympic Winter Games, the first being the VII Olympic Winter...
due to disqualification for using finasteride
Finasteride
Finasteride is a synthetic antiandrogen that inhibits type II 5-alpha reductase, the enzyme that converts testosterone to dihydrotestosterone...
, a drug that was removed from the banned list three years later. He was stripped of his second place finish in the Calgary
Calgary
Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
World Cup event after testing positive for this medication, and a one year suspension was issued on February 10, 2006.
Lund said he was using finasteride to combat baldness
Baldness
Baldness implies partial or complete lack of hair and can be understood as part of the wider topic of "hair thinning". The degree and pattern of baldness can vary greatly, but its most common cause is male and female pattern baldness, also known as androgenic alopecia, alopecia androgenetica or...
and that he declared the use of the substance on medical forms. Records show that Lund had been using finasteride (in its commercial hair-restoration form, Propecia) for seven years until his suspension.
Finasteride has been on the banned list since 2005; Lund claims he last checked the list in 2004. "I've been losing my hair since I was a teenager and I've had a prescription for the last seven years and it was never an issue until this year," Lund told freestyle skiing analyst Nikki Stone (Yahoo! Sports, Feb. 10, 2006). "Whenever I've been tested, I always let them know that I was taking [Propecia]. I never had anything to hide."
A panel on the Court of Arbitration for Sport
Court of Arbitration for Sport
The Court of Arbitration for Sport is an international arbitration body set up to settle disputes related to sport. Its headquarters are in Lausanne and its courts are located in New York, Sydney and Lausanne, Switzerland...
believed Lund and wrote in its ruling that "it was entirely satisfied that Mr. Lund was not a cheat...But, unfortunately, in 2005, he made a mistake."
He returned to the World Cup circuit in 2006 and won the overall World Cup title for the 2006-2007 season
2007 Skeleton World Cup
The 2007 Skeleton World Cup is a multi race tournament over a season for skeleton. The season started on 27 November 2006 and ended on 25 February 2007. The World Cup is organised by the FIBT who also run world cups and championships in bobsleigh.- Men :-Women:...
.
Alpha-reductase inhibitors, a class of masking agents which used to be banned in- and out-of-competition, were removed from the 2009 list. This class of substances, which includes for example finasteride, has been rendered ineffective as masking agents of steroids through close consideration of steroid profiles by antidoping laboratories. (WADA Q&A: 2009 Prohibited List September 25, 2008)
Mr. Lund earned a second chance, and will compete at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
Olympics
It was announced on January 17, 2010 that Lund had qualified for the 2010 Winter Olympics2010 Winter Olympics
The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially the XXI Olympic Winter Games or the 21st Winter Olympics, were a major international multi-sport event held from February 12–28, 2010, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with some events held in the suburbs of Richmond, West Vancouver and the University...
in Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
. He finished in fifth place overall in the Skeleton
Skeleton at the 2010 Winter Olympics – Men's
The men's skeleton event at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada took place at the Whistler Sliding Centre on 18-19 February. Canada's Duff Gibson was the defending Olympic champion. Gibson retired after the 2006 Olympics...
race, 0.52 seconds short of a medal. In many circles, Lund is given credit as the man who popularized the sport and made many children dream of becoming a "Skeletor"!!