Skiing: Baxter happy to race again at Olympic venue

Alain Baxter is ready to return to the site of his Olympic disgrace as he tries to put his skiing career back on track. Park City in the United States is the venue for the first World Cup event of the season next month and is also where Baxter won the Olympic slalom bronze this year, only to be stripped of the medal when he failed a drugs test.

Baxter fell foul of an American Vicks inhaler which, unlike the British version, contains a banned ingredient. An appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport finally cleared his name, although it did not secure the return of his medal.

Yesterday he insisted he will put all those problems behind him. "I just want to get back into action again and win my way back on to the podium," he said.

The loss of the ranking points, confiscated along with the medal, could prove a hindrance early in the season. "I'll be starting around 30th instead of number 17 or 18," the Scot added. "If the snow is hard it might not be too much of a problem, but it could be a handicap if it's soft."

However, Baxter insisted he has no apprehension about skiing at Park City again. "Although it's the same venue, it's a different hill," he pointed out. "It may be a little different going back, but I've prepared well and I think I'm focused enough to do my talking on the slope."