Andrus Veerpalu (born 8 February 1971) is a retired Estonian cross-country skier. He is Estonia's most successful Winter Olympian, having won the gold medal in men's 15 km classical in

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

and

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

, and silver in men's 50 km classical in

Career

On 17 February 2006 Veerpalu won his second

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (), also known as the Winter Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were held i ...

gold medal (in 15 km cross country skiing; his previous gold medal is from the

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

games), becoming the fourth

Estonian Estonian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe * Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent * Estonian language * Estonian cuisine * Estonian culture See also

...

to have won two Olympic gold medals (

Kristjan Palusalu Kristjan Palusalu (until 1935 Kristjan Trossmann, – 17 July 1987) was an Estonian heavyweight wrestler and Olympic winner. Palusalu became the first and only wrestler in Olympic history ever to win both the Greco-Roman and freestyle heavy ...

, Erika Salumäe and Kristina Šmigun-Vähi are the first three). He is the most successful Olympic athlete from Estonia with three medals. (Kristina Šmigun-Vähi tied that record at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics) Veerpalu has also found success at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships, winning a gold at 15 km in 2009 at Liberec, 30 km in 2001 at Lahti and a silver at 50 km in 1999 at Ramsau. He has also won the 50 km event at the

Holmenkollen ski festival The Holmenkollen Ski Festival ( or ) is a traditional annual Nordic skiing event in Holmenkollen, Oslo, Norway. The full official name of the event is Holmenkollen FIS World Cup Nordic. History It takes place in March and has been arranged every ...

in 2003 and 2005. Veerpalu also competed in the men's 50 km, Mass Start Classic at the

2010 Winter Olympics The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Vancouver 2010 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held from February 12 to 28, 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with ...

, finishing at the 6th place. Veerpalu became the oldest world champion in history with his victory at Liberec 2009 on the 15 km classical event. He was then 38 years old. He is also the oldest Olympic champion in individual distance. Veerpalu earned the Holmenkollen medal in 2005, the first Estonian to do so. Veerpalu is the fourth athlete to compete in cross-country skiing at six Winter Olympics, after

Marja-Liisa Kirvesniemi Marja-Liisa Kirvesniemi (née Hämäläinen; born 10 September 1955) is a Finnish former cross-country skier. Career She was the big figure at the 1984 Olympics in Sarajevo, winning all three individual cross-country skiing events (5, 10 and ...

, Harri Kirvesniemi, and Jochen Behle. ( Kateřina Neumannová is also a cross-country skier who competed at six Olympics, but one of her appearances was in cycling.) On 23 February 2011, Veerpalu announced that he will end his professional sportsman career due to a chronic knee injury.

Doping case acquittal

Several months after Veerpalu's retirement it was announced that he had tested positive for HGH (

growth hormone Growth hormone (GH) or somatotropin, also known as human growth hormone (hGH or HGH) in its human form, is a peptide hormone that stimulates growth, cell reproduction, and cell regeneration in humans and other animals. It is thus important in ...

), however he had pleaded innocent in HGH treatment. Estonian biochemistry doctors explained that the verdict was untimely and that there was no reliable method to distinguish artificial HGH from natural background hormone. Veerpalu appealed the test result to the FIS. The FIS antidoping commission found Veerpalu guilty and extended his ban to three years, due to Veerpalu's team's lack of co-operation with FIS. A group of top Estonian biochemists investigated the matter and insist Veerpalu was a

false positive A false positive is an error in binary classification in which a test result incorrectly indicates the presence of a condition (such as a disease when the disease is not present), while a false negative is the opposite error, where the test resu ...

. The

Court of Arbitration for Sport The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS; , TAS) is an international body established in 1984 to settle disputes related to sport through arbitration. Its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland, and its courts are located in New York City, Sy ...

acquitted Veerpalu, lifted his doping ban and ordered the FIS to pay a part of Veerpalu's court costs on 25 March 2013.
The court stated ''"that there are many factors in this case which tend to indicate that the Athlete did in fact himself administer exogenous hGH"'' but found that the decision limit, the threshold for considering the result an adverse analytical finding, was not sufficiently reliable to uphold the doping conviction. Krista Fischer, a senior researcher for the Estonian Genome Center, questioned what these unexplained factors hinted at by CAS could be: ''"So what were these factors? Right now the only numbers that seem to hint at doping are the same four numbers that have been ruled invalid."''

Cross-country skiing results

All results are sourced from the International Ski Federation (FIS).

Olympic Games

* 3 medals – (2 gold, 1 silver)

World Championships

*3 medals – (2 gold, 1 silver)

World Cup

Season standings

Individual podiums

*6 victories – (6 ) *11 podiums – (11 ) Note: Until the 1999 World Championships, World Championship races were included in the World Cup scoring system.

Personal life

He is married to Angela Veerpalu and they have five children.

References

External links

* * – click Holmenkollmedaljen for downloadable pdf file * – click Vinnere for downloadable pdf file * 13 June 2012
Veerpalu Court Hearing Ends Today
Estonian Public Broadcasting News * 28 August 2012
Veerpalu Appeal Decision Delayed
Estonian Public Broadcasting News * 28 February 2013
Judgement Day for Veerpalu Doping Case: Result Expected Shortly
Estonian Public Broadcasting News * 28 February 2013
Decision in Veerpalu Doping Case Postponed
The ruling will now come on March 25, ETV reported, Estonian Public Broadcasting News
Lausanne, 1 March 2013, Court of Arbitration for Sport: VEERPALU/FIS CASE: DECISION POSTPONED TO 25 MARCH 2013

Estonian Public Broadcasting: 25. March 2013, Veerpalu Decision Expected (Again)

26.03.2013, The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS): CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING - CASE VEERPALU/ FIS: APPEAL UPHELD
tas-cas.org
FIS-Ski: CAS issues decision in the case of Veerpalu
fis-ski.com
Lausanne, 26 March 2013, The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) MEDIA RELEASE, CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING, CASE VEERPALU/FIS

CAS 2011/A/2566 Andrus Veerpalu v. International Ski Federation, ARBITRAL AWARD
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Veerpalu, Andrus 1971 births Living people Sportspeople from Pärnu Estonian male cross-country skiers Cross-country skiers at the 1992 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiers at the 1994 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiers at the 1998 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiers at the 2002 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiers at the 2006 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiers at the 2010 Winter Olympics Holmenkollen medalists Holmenkollen Ski Festival winners Olympic cross-country skiers for Estonia Olympic gold medalists for Estonia Olympic silver medalists for Estonia Olympic medalists in cross-country skiing FIS Nordic World Ski Championships medalists in cross-country skiing Medalists at the 2006 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2002 Winter Olympics Recipients of the Order of the White Star, 1st Class