Lund tested positive for finasteride, an ingredient in a popular hair-restoration pill that also was believed to be capable of masking steroid usage. It was prohibited in 2005, but after further study showed athletes gain no tangible advantage from the drug, it will be removed from WADA's banned list on Jan. 1.

Lund served a one-year suspension and could not race in Turin, where he would have been a gold-medal favorite.

"When it happened, I said they would make this legal in a year or two, because that's what WADA does," Lund said in Lake Placid, where he's training for the upcoming World Cup season. "They put stuff on the banned list without any scientific proof saying why. They're not held accountable. It's not like I'm getting a 'Sorry we took the Olympics away from you. Sorry we almost ruined your career.'"

WADA made the decision to remove finasteride and other alpha-reductase inhibitors late last month, calling the review "an important responsibility ... in the harmonization of the global fight against doping in sport."

"These substances have been rendered ineffective as masking agents of steroids," WADA said in a statement announcing the change.

Lund _ who said he did not know the product was newly added to the banned list before the 2005 season _ was the World Cup leader and Olympic favorite before he tested positive for finasteride in November of that year.

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency investigated and decided to give Lund a public warning, but WADA pressed for a two-year ban. Ultimately, the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that Lund was not a drug cheat, but still ordered him sidelined until November 2006.

"Unfortunately for Zach, this decision comes two years too late," USOC spokesman Darryl Seibel said. "As we argued in 2006, he never should have been prohibited from competing in the Torino Games."

Lund, who no longer uses the hair-restoration product and shaves his head, said he was told of the change in WADA policy last week.

"I was sitting on my couch when I got the call," Lund said, "and I started laughing so hard that I cried."

Lund is not the only athlete who suffered consequences for using finasteride.

Brazilian soccer star Romario and hockey goalie Jose Theodore both tested positive for the drug in recent years. Also, a German wheelchair basketball player was banned from the Paralympics last month after testing positive, and an Israeli sailor tested positive this summer, but was allowed to enter the Beijing Games nonetheless.