The top ten scandals of the Winter Olympics

By Chris Cottrell, Sportsbeat

 AS sure as death and taxes, the Winter Olympics goes hand in hand with raging controversy. Four years ago there was the Italian police sting on the Austrian cross-country skiers, and who could forget the infamous attack on American figure skater Nancy Kerrigan?

There's sure to be controversy in Vancouver this month but ahead of the Games, take a look at our top ten Winter Olympic scandals.

10. Alain Baxter

STRIPPED: Alain Baxter became Great Britain's first ever Olympic skiing medallist, only to be stripped of his bronze days later (Getty Images)

Alain ‘The Highlander' Baxter had never been one to skirt controversy.

Fiercely patriotic, the Scot upset the British Olympic Association at the Salt Lake City Games in 2002 by dying the St. Andrews Cross into his hair before flying out.

Any ill-feeling from the BOA was quickly forgotten as Baxter became the first Brit to win an alpine skiing medal, scooping bronze in the slalom.

But just days after the Scot returned home to a hero's welcome, he was stripped of his medal having tested positive for methamphetamine.

It transpired a Vicks nasal inhaler was the offending item with Baxter unaware the American version, unlike the British equivalent, contained the banned substance.

The International Ski Federation and BOA showed leniency towards Baxter after his appeal was accepted by the Court of Arbitration for Sport but the International Olympic Committee held firm and took back the medal, handing it to fourth-placed Austrian Benjamin Raich.

And while Raich, a supporter of Baxter's cause, initially refused to accept the medal, he eventually gave in under pressure from the Austrian Skiing Federation.