Kaisa Varis

Kaisa Varis (born September 21, 1975, in Ilomantsi) is a retired Finnish cross country skier and biathlete. Her career has been deeply influenced by doping affairs: in 2001 she was involved but not suspended in a doping scandal, but in 2003 she was suspended two years for doping use. After she came back for a Biathlon career in 2007, she received a lifetime ban from all International Biathlon Union competitions after another doping case in January 2008.

Career

Cross country skiing

In cross country skiing, Varis competed from 1995 to 2006. Her biggest success was the win of the bronze medal in the 15 km at the 2001 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships, but she is better known for her doping controversies at those championships: Varis was part of the 4×5 km relay that was disqualified when fellow skiers Virpi Kuitunen and Milla Jauho were disqualified for taking hydroxyethyl starch, a banned blood plasma expander. Varis was originally implicated, but later was cleared in this scandal.Fact|date=January 2008

Varis's best individual finish at the Winter Olympics was fourth in the 15 km at Salt Lake City in 2002. She also has ten individual career victories at various distances from 1998 to 2002.

Two years after the first doping incident, at the 2003 World Championships in Val di Fiemme, she was suspended for five days before the event's start due to a high hemoglobin count, though was allowed to compete when a second test came back five days later with a lower count. Varis attended the 30 km event, but was later disqualified for taking EPO, an endurance-enhancing drug, and served a two-year suspension as a result. [cite news | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/2850705.stm | title = Finnish skier fails drugs test | publisher = BBC NEWS | date = 2003-03-14] [cite news | title = Pomp and Unsettling Circumstances Open Games | url = http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/11/sports/olympics/11ceremony.html | publisher = New York Times | first = Lynn | last = Zinser | coauthors = Macur, Juliet | date = 2006-02-11]

Though she qualified, she did not compete in the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, because she was excluded by Finland's Olympic committee.

Biathlon

Varis switched from cross country skiing to biathlon and made her debut in the Biathlon World Cup on March 2, 2007, in Lahti, Finland, by finishing 70th in the 7.5 km sprint race. On November 30, 2007, she finished fifth in the 7.5 km sprint event in Kontiolahti. On January 11, 2008, Varis scored her first victory in a biathlon World Cup race in the 7.5 km sprint event in Ruhpolding, Germany,cite news | title = Kaisa Varis of Finland, banned twice for doping, wins first biathlon World Cup event | url = http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/01/11/sports/BIA-Biathlon-World-Cup.php | publisher = International Herald Tribune | date = 2008-01-11] but it was later voided because of her positive doping test.

On January 24, 2008, it was made public, that at least the A sample from a test for prohibited substances on January 6 was, again, tested positive for EPO. Varis denied any doping. [cite news | title = Finnish biathlete Kaisa Varis tested positive for doping in World Cup event | url = http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/01/24/sports/EU-SPT-BIA-Doping-Varis.php | publisher = International Herald Tribune | date = 2008-01-24] However, on January 31, 2008, the IBU announced, that the B sample confirmed the results; due to this case, the Finnish Biathlon Association did not register Varis for the 2008 World Championships. [cite press release | title = Establishment of Adverse Analytical Finding in the Case of Ms Kaisa Varis/Finland | publisher = International Biathlon Union | date = 2008-01-30 | url = http://www.biathlonworld.com/eng/news/page_000055_884.htm] Despite her first ban was given while she was a cross-country skier, she was banned for life as a repeated offender by the IBU Executive Board on February 11, 2008. [cite news | url = http://edition.cnn.com/2008/SPORT/01/31/doping.varis.ap/ | title = Biathlete Varis faces life ban threat | publisher = CNN | date = 2008-01-31] [cite press release | title = Case Kaisa Varis | publisher = International Biathlon Union | url = http://www.biathlonworld.com/eng/news/page_000055_920.htm | date = 2008-02-11] In March 2008 she announced her intention to appeal to overturn the ban. [cite news | url = http://de.eurosport.yahoo.com/18032008/73/doping-taeterin-legt-berufung.html | title = Doper Lodges Appeal | publisher = Eurosport | date = 18-03-2008]

References

*FIS|S=CC|ID=63695 Accessed 2008-01-29
*cite web | url = http://data.biathlonworld.com/data/archives.aspx?IbuId=BTFIN22109197501 | title = IBU Profile of Kaisa Varis | publisher = International Biathlon Union | accessdate = 2008-01-29

ee also

*List of sportspeople sanctioned for doping offences