A fresh bid could be launched to give Britain’s first medallist at the Winter Olympics his title back, the Press and Journal can reveal.
Alain Baxter said last night it would be “amazing” to finally be reunited with his bronze medal 14 years on – and revealed that he was contemplating trying again to turn his dream into a reality.
And north MP Drew Hendry yesterday wrote to Olympic chiefs and the UK Government urging them to re-open his case and finally deliver “justice” to the skier known as The Highlander.
The move emerged after almost 1,000 people signed an online petition calling for the reinstatement of the medal in the last few weeks.
The petition – originally launched two years ago but attracting renewed interest since the start of 2016 – has now been backed by more than 6,150 supporters.
Mr Baxter returned to a hero’s welcome at his home in Aviemore in 2002 after defying all predictions by finishing third in the men’s slalom of the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.
But his moment of glory turned into heartbreak a few days later after it emerged that he had failed a drugs test, following the discovery of a trace amount of the banned stimulant methamphetamine.
Mr Baxter, who now runs a snow sports workshop in Stirling, said it was the result of an over-the-counter nasal inhaler he bought in the US, and was supported by the British Olympic Association.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport judged that the amount of the substance in his body was not enough to enhance his performance, but because of strict Olympic rules it could not back his appeal.
Last night, the 42-year-old welcomed the renewed interest in his case on social media in recent weeks, and said he was torn over whether to try again to have his medal reinstated.
“Honestly, it would be amazing,” Mr Baxter said of being reunited with the bronze.
“At that time there was a huge team behind me, lawyers and QCs, and we did the best we could, but we felt like we were banging our head against a brick wall.
“Obviously I would love to have it back but it’s tricky. We would have to really look into it.
“When it first kicked off, I did speak to a few people about it. We would have to be really clear about the way we go about it.”
Mr Hendry, the SNP MP for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey, piled the pressure on the authorities to re-examine the case.
“It is great to see, even after all this time, that Alain still has the support of our community,” he said.
“I fully support the campaign to have the bronze medal returned to him and to have his achievements finally recognised.”
“Therefore I have written to the International Olympics Committee and to the parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Sport, Tourism and Heritage to ask that they reopen this case and give Alain the justice he deserves.”