By The Associated Press

Tim Nardiello was reinstated as the U.S. skeleton coach Monday night, hours after an arbitrator found no evidence to support claims that he sexually harassed two team members. Still up in the air: whether U.S. Olympic officials will allow him to coach at the Turin Games next month.

A U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation board member, speaking on condition of anonymity because no formal announcement was planned until Tuesday.

, told The Associated Press that the federation lifted Nardiello’s suspension during a meeting Monday night.

The decision was effective immediately. Nardiello said he hopes to find a flight in time to rejoin the team for the season’s final World Cup skeleton race in Altenberg, Germany, on Thursday and Friday.

Nardiello’s reinstatement came on the same day that the top American men’s slider, Zach Lund, learned he’s headed to the Olympics. The best U.S. hope for skeleton gold was publicly warned Monday but not suspended by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency over a failed drug test earlier this season.

The U.S. Olympic Committee said Lund will race in Turin, but will not announce until later this week if Nardiello will coach the four American sliders – and his reinstatement will not affect the USOC’s decision.

“I want to get my team back together and back on a winning field,” Nardiello told the AP after learning of the decision. “Zach Lund is back in the mix, which is great news. And I’m looking forward to getting my team down the track in Altenberg on Thursday and Friday.”

Nardiello was suspended Dec. 31 over the harassment allegations, which he has repeatedly denied. He went to arbitration with the USBSF last week in Albany, N.Y., over the merit of those claims.

The suspension came after longtime team member Felicia Canfield wrote the USBSF’s board of directors alleging that Nardiello tried to kiss her, touch her inappropriately and made comments of a sexual nature to her and other female athletes.

Her claims, combined with a letter written by Marsha Gale – the mother of 2002 Olympic gold medalist Tristan Gale – prompted the board to suspend Nardiello while an investigation was conducted. Marsha Gale also said Nardiello made inappropriate comments, and said that Nardiello dating a competitor from New Zealand was unprofessional.

Reached at his home after the arbitrator’s ruling was announced, Brady Canfield – a board member and Felicia Canfield’s husband – referred questions to Salt Lake City attorney Mark Gaylord, who is representing six people who filed grievances against Nardiello.

In a statement late Monday, Gaylord said his clients believe the federation did not conduct a full investigation and they intend to continue pursuing the matter with both the USBSF and the USOC. The group found Nardiello’s reinstatement “troubling,” he wrote.

The group believes the federation did not take their claims seriously, “choosing instead to overlook Mr. Nardiello’s conduct in the hope that it could avoid responsibility for the conduct of its employee,” Gaylord wrote.

Nardiello and several members of the U.S. national team have said the claims were brought because Felicia Canfield and Tristan Gale did not make this year’s Olympic team.

“I’ve been holding my breath the whole time waiting for the answer to come because I knew it would be positive for Tim,” said U.S. slider Amanda Bird, who did not make this year’s national team. “When I found out, I was ecstatic. … Anything Tim has ever said to me hasn’t been uncomfortable or harassing. I’ve never been harassed by Tim.”

Meanwhile, Lund was also ecstatic after learning his Olympic dream wasn’t over.

Lund tested positive for Finasteride, the main ingredient in a common hair-restoration product that can also be used as a steroid-masking agent, at a competition in November. He was barred from the past two World Cup races, but argued that he was using the product as intended – to grow hair.

“Our federation has been through hell these last few weeks,” Lund said. “We need to get past all this and start to think only about the Olympics for a little while.”

The USADA ordered that Lund forfeit his second-place finish from the season’s opening World Cup race in Calgary, Alberta in November, but did not penalize him further. Lund was the World Cup overall points leader and an Olympic favorite before being sanctioned earlier this month.

“I’m glad USADA saw it for what it was, a mistake and nothing else,” Lund said. “I had a very strong case. I had all the evidence that I needed to prove that it was a harmless, honest mistake. I could show that I’m not on performance-enhancing drugs and they handled it in the right way.”

Lund hopes to compete in this weekend’s World Cup finale.

“We felt that the circumstances of the cases warranted the minimum possible sanction under the rules and we’re glad that USADA agreed,” said Howard Jacobs, Lund’s attorney.

Lund has taken hair-restoration products since 1999 and has always declared them on his medical forms that get filled out before competition. He is no longer taking Proscar, the pill he was using at the time of the positive drug test, and is even avoiding multivitamins and other over-the-counter products, just to be safe.

“I have learned my lesson,” Lund said. “If this was God’s way of telling me that he wants me to go bald, I get the message.”

Skeleton athletes slide headfirst on a sled at more than 70 mph on the track used for bobsled and luge.

AP-ES-01-23-06 2212EST