Virpi Katriina Sarasvuo (née Kuitunen, born 20 May 1976 in Kangasniemi

Kangasniemi

Kangasniemi is a municipality of Finland.It is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Southern Savonia region. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is ....

, Southern Savonia

Southern Savonia

Southern Savonia is a region in the south-east of Finland. It borders to the regions Northern Savonia, North Karelia, South Karelia, Kymenlaakso, Päijänne Tavastia, and Central Finland...

) is a Finnish

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

 cross country skier who competed from 1995 to 2010. She won a bronze medal in the team sprint event (with Aino Kaisa Saarinen

Aino Kaisa Saarinen

Aino-Kaisa Saarinen is a Finnish cross country skier who has competed since 1998...

) at the 2006 Winter Olympics

2006 Winter Olympics

The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XX Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in Turin, Italy from February 10, 2006, through February 26, 2006. This marked the second time Italy hosted the Olympic Winter Games, the first being the VII Olympic Winter...

 in Turin

Turin

Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...

 and earned her best individual finish of fifth in the individual sprint event in those same games. Four years later

2010 Winter Olympics

The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially the XXI Olympic Winter Games or the 21st Winter Olympics, were a major international multi-sport event held from February 12–28, 2010, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with some events held in the suburbs of Richmond, West Vancouver and the University...

 in Vancouver

Vancouver

Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...

, Kuitunen won another bronze, this time in the 4 x 5 km relay.

Kuitunen has seven medals at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships

FIS Nordic World Ski Championships

The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships have been held in various numbers and types of events since 1925 for men and since 1954 for women. Championship events include nordic skiing's three disciplines: cross-country skiing, ski jumping, and nordic combined...

 with five golds (2001: 5 km + 5 km combined pursuit, 2007: Team sprint, with Riitta-Liisa Roponen, 30 km, & 4 x 5 km; 2009: Team sprint, 4 x 5 km), one silver (2005: 30 km), one bronze (2007: Indvidiual sprint). She also has thirty-four additional individual victories at various levels of various distances since 2000.

Kuitunen won the first ever Tour de Ski

Tour de Ski

Tour de Ski is a cross-country skiing event held annually since 2007 in Central Europe, modeled on the Tour de France of cycling. Races have been held in the Czech Republic, Germany and Italy over eight days. The prize money for the event amounted to 1,055,000 Swiss francs , shared out on both men...

 competition for women in 2006–07, winning over Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

's Marit Bjørgen

Marit Bjørgen

Marit Bjørgen is a Norwegian cross country skier and triple olympic champion from Midtre Gauldal, Norway. Bjørgen is the most successful sprinter in Cross-Country World Cup history, with twenty-four victories. She is ranked first in the all-time Cross-Country World Cup rankings with forty-eight...

 by 1:17.5. She also won the overall 2006–07 Cross-Country Skiing World Cup, as well as the sprint World Cup the same season. In the season 2007–08 Kuitunen won the overall again.

Because of Kuitunen's successes in cross country skiing in 2007, she was awarded Finnish Sportswoman of the Year

Finnish Sportspersonality of the year

The Finnish Sportspersonality of the Year is chosen annually since 1947 by the national sports journalists. In addition, the best female athlete is nominated each year.-Winners:- Best females :...

. Kuitunen also won the Tour de Ski in 2008–09.

Virpi Kuitunen married Jari Sarasvuo

Jari Sarasvuo

Jari Sarasvuo is the founder, chief owner and CEO of Trainer's House, a Finnish company that arranges training and lectures particularly for marketing topics....

 on 16 July 2010.

Doping controversy

At the 2001 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships

2001 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships

The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2001 took place February 15–25, 2001 in Lahti, Finland for a record sixth time, previous events being held in 1926, 1938, 1958, 1978 and 1989...

 in Lahti

Lahti

Lahti is a city and municipality in Finland.Lahti is the capital of the Päijänne Tavastia region. It is situated on a bay at the southern end of lake Vesijärvi about north-east of the capital Helsinki...

, Kuitunen was disqualified when she tested positive for hydroxyethyl starch

Hydroxyethyl starch

Hydroxyethyl starch is a nonionic starch derivative. It is one of the most frequently used volume expander under the trade names Hespan by B. Braun Medical Inc...

, a banned blood plasma

Blood plasma

Blood plasma is the straw-colored liquid component of blood in which the blood cells in whole blood are normally suspended. It makes up about 55% of the total blood volume. It is the intravascular fluid part of extracellular fluid...

 expander. This forced her to relinquish her silver medal earned in the 4 x 5 km and serve a two-year suspension that would not end until the 2003 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships

2003 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships

The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2003 took place February 18-March 1, 2003 in Val di Fiemme, Italy for a second time . The ski jumping team normal hill held in 2001 was not held at this championships while the women's 30 km returned after being cancelled in the previous championships due to...

.

External links