Doping allegations have threatened to taint the opening of the Winter Olympics as athletes and dignitaries prepared for an inaugural ceremony launching two weeks of sport.
An Italian official claimed this morning that several athletes had tested positive for doping in pre-Games drugs checks, but the International Olympic Committee rejected his statement.
Giovanni Zotta, who is an Italian representative on the IOC's anti-doping commission, said preliminary tests had found the banned substance Erythropoietin (EPO) in several athletes.
"So far there have been cases of EPO haematocrit in several athletes but it must be confirmed," Zotta said, without providing the names of any athletes or numbers involved. He said subsequent tests were needed to confirm the initial results.
EPO boosts the number of red blood cells which carry oxygen and improves stamina.
But the IOC denied Zotta's claim. "This information is incorrect," IOC Communications Director Giselle Davies said in response.
The IOC and Italy have clashed over doping controls. Doping is a criminal offence in Italy while the IOC foresees only non-penal sanctions, though the Italian government has said no one would go to jail.
The doping issue emerged hours before thousands of athletes, fans and dignitaries, including US first lady Laura Bush, gather in Turin's Olympic Stadium to open the Games, which will run until February 26th.
Earlier, eight Nordic skiers including an Olympic gold medallist were suspended for five days after tests showed they had an abnormally high red blood cell count.
The FIS said the five-day suspensions were not a sanction but a health measure.
The International Ski Federation (FIS) said among the athletes was German Evi Sachenbacher Stehle, 25, who was a gold medallist in the women's relay in Salt Lake City and also won a silver in the women's sprint at the same Games.
"Haemoglobin levels can be affected by altitude training or the use of agents to boost haemoglobin," FIS secretary general Sarah Lewis explained today.
The athletes will miss the women's and men's cross-country skiing pursuit races. The women's 15km and the men's 30km pursuit are both on Sunday.
It was not clear whether there was any connection between the suspension of the Nordic skiers and the unconfirmed EPO doping cases.