An Austrian cross-country skier was thrown out of the Sochi Games and labelled a "scoundrel" by his own team on Sunday after testing positive for blood booster Erythropoietin (EPO) - the fifth doping case to hit the Games.

Johannes Duerr, who had been due to take part in the men's 50 kilometers on the final day of the Games, tested positive in a pre-competition test in Austria on February 16, organizers said in a statement.

Duerr is the fifth athlete to be excluded over a failed drugs test from the Sochi Games, where the International Olympic Committee is carrying out more tests than ever with a new emphasis on pre-competition tests.

However, Duerr is the first athlete to test positive for EPO, a blood booster that became notorious for its use among cyclists.

Duerr told Austrian ORF television after arriving back home from Sochi that he had "disappointed so many people... with my stupidity."

"I have nothing to say other than to apologize to everyone, to my family and my wife," he said.

Russia's Alexander Legkov won gold in the event in 1 hour 46 minutes 55.2 seconds, a fraction of a second ahead of his teammates Maxim Vylegzhanin and Ilia Chernousov, who took silver and bronze.