| Andrus Veerpalu | |
|---|---|
 Andrus Veerpalu in 2013 | |
| Country |  Estonia |
| Born | (1971-02-08)8 February 1971 (age 54) Pärnu, Estonia |
| Height | 1.82 m (5 ft11+1⁄2 in) |
| Ski club | Jõulu |
| World Cup career | |
| Seasons | 19 – (1992–2006,2008–2011) |
| Indiv. starts | 141 |
| Indiv. podiums | 11 |
| Indiv. wins | 6 |
| Team starts | 28 |
| Team podiums | 0 |
| Overall titles | 0 – (7th in2003,2004) |
| Discipline titles | 0 |
Medal record | |
Andrus Veerpalu (born 8 February 1971) is a retired Estoniancross-country skier. He is Estonia's most successfulWinter Olympian, having won the gold medal in men's 15 km classical in2002 and2006, and silver in men's 50 km classical in2002.[1]
On 17 February 2006 Veerpalu won his secondWinter Olympics gold medal (in 15 km cross country skiing; his previous gold medal is from theSalt Lake City games), becoming the fourthEstonian to have won two Olympic gold medals (Kristjan Palusalu,Erika Salumäe andKristina 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 the2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics)
Veerpalu has also found success at theFIS 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 theHolmenkollen ski festival in 2003 and 2005. Veerpalu also competed in the men's 50 km, Mass Start Classic at the2010 Winter Olympics, finishing at the 6th place.
Veerpalu became the oldest world champion in history with his victory atLiberec 2009 on the 15 km classical event. He was then 38 years old.[2] He is also the oldest Olympic champion in individual distance.
Veerpalu earned theHolmenkollen medal in 2005, the first Estonian to do so.
Veerpalu is the fourth athlete to compete in cross-country skiing atsix Winter Olympics, afterMarja-Liisa Kirvesniemi,Harri Kirvesniemi, andJochen 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.[3]
Several months after Veerpalu's retirement it was announced that he had tested positive for HGH (growth hormone), however he had pleaded innocent inHGH 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.[4][5][6] Veerpalu appealed the test result to the FIS.[7]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.[8] A group of top Estonian biochemists investigated the matter and insist Veerpalu was afalse positive.[9][10] TheCourt of Arbitration for Sport acquitted Veerpalu, lifted his doping ban and ordered the FIS to pay a part of Veerpalu's court costs on 25 March 2013.[11]
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 anadverse analytical finding, was not sufficiently reliable to uphold the doping conviction.[12]Krista Fischer, a senior researcher for theEstonian 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."[13]
All results are sourced from theInternational Ski Federation (FIS).[14]
| Year | Age | 10 km | 15 km | Pursuit | 30 km | 50 km | Sprint | 4 × 10 km relay | Team sprint |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | 21 | 21 | — | 42 | 44 | — | — | 10 | — |
| 1994 | 23 | 36 | — | 55 | — | 26 | — | — | — |
| 1998 | 27 | 8 | — | DNS | 19 | — | — | 10 | — |
| 2002 | 31 | — | Gold | — | — | Silver | — | 9 | — |
| 2006 | 35 | — | Gold | — | — | — | — | 8 | — |
| 2010 | 39 | — | — | — | — | 6 | — | — | — |
| Year | Age | 10 km | 15 km | Pursuit | 30 km | 50 km | Sprint | 4 × 10 km relay | Team sprint |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | 22 | 49 | — | 57 | 31 | — | — | — | — |
| 1995 | 24 | 72 | — | — | 30 | — | — | — | — |
| 1997 | 26 | 32 | — | DNF | — | 39 | — | 11 | — |
| 1999 | 28 | 14 | — | DNF | — | Silver | — | 10 | — |
| 2001 | 30 | — | 5 | — | Gold | — | — | 7 | — |
| 2003 | 32 | — | 8 | DNF | 4 | — | — | 8 | — |
| 2005 | 34 | — | — | 19 | — | 4 | — | 9 | — |
| 2009 | 38 | — | Gold | 19 | — | — | — | 8 | 8 |
| Season | Age | Discipline standings | Ski Tour standings | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | Distance | Long Distance | Middle Distance | Sprint | Nordic Opening | Tour de Ski | World Cup Final | ||
| 1992 | 21 | NC | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1993 | 22 | NC | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1994 | 23 | 78 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1995 | 24 | 73 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1996 | 25 | NC | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1997 | 26 | 74 | — | 60 | — | 59 | — | — | — |
| 1998 | 27 | 26 | — | 24 | — | 28 | — | — | — |
| 1999 | 28 | 22 | — | 12 | — | 43 | — | — | — |
| 2000 | 29 | 43 | — | 23 | 51 | 36 | — | — | — |
| 2001 | 30 | 42 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2002 | 31 | 19 | — | — | — | NC | — | — | — |
| 2003 | 32 | 7 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2004 | 33 | 7 | 6 | — | — | 23 | — | — | — |
| 2005 | 34 | 13 | 10 | — | — | 58 | — | — | — |
| 2006 | 35 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2008 | 37 | 50 | 34 | — | — | 77 | — | — | 22 |
| 2009 | 38 | 27 | 20 | — | — | 77 | — | 19 | — |
| 2010 | 39 | 41 | 20 | — | — | 108 | — | — | DNF |
| 2011 | 40 | 86 | 50 | — | — | NC | DNF | — | — |
| No. | Season | Date | Location | Race | Level | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1998–99 | 28 February 1999 |  Ramsau, Austria | 50 km Individual C | World Championships[1] | 2nd |
| 2 | 2002–03 | 12 January 2003 | Otepää, Estonia | 30 km Mass Start C | World Cup | 3rd |
| 3 | 15 February 2003 |  Asiago, Italy | 10 km Individual C | World Cup | 1st | |
| 4 | 8 March 2003 |  Oslo, Norway | 50 km Individual C | World Cup | 1st | |
| 5 | 2003–04 | 13 December 2003 |  Davos, Switzerland | 15 km Individual C | World Cup | 1st |
| 6 | 16 December 2003 | Val di Fiemme, Italy | 1.2 km Sprint C | World Cup | 3rd | |
| 7 | 17 January 2004 |  Nové Město, Czech Republic | 15 km Individual C | World Cup | 1st | |
| 8 | 7 March 2004 |  Lahti, Finland | 15 km Individual C | World Cup | 3rd | |
| 9 | 2004–05 | 8 January 2005 | Otepää, Estonia | 15 km Individual C | World Cup | 1st |
| 10 | 12 March 2005 | Oslo, Norway | 50 km Individual C | World Cup | 1st | |
| 11 | 2009–10 | 16 January 2010 | Otepää, Estonia | 15 km Individual C | World Cup | 2nd |
Note:1 Until the1999 World Championships, World Championship races were included in the World Cup scoring system.
He is married to Angela Veerpalu and they have five children.
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Estonian Male Athlete of the Year 1999 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Estonian Male Athlete of the Year 2001–2002 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Estonian Male Athlete of the Year 2006 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Estonian Male Athlete of the Year 2009 | Succeeded by |
| 18 km | |
|---|---|
| 15 km |
|
