Cross-country skier Aino-Kaisa Saarinen tested for doping nearly once a week

“You will never have to worry about my test results!”

Aino-Kaisa Saarinen

print this

Cross-country skiing world champion Aino-Kaisa Saarinen has been tested for doping on average almost once a week this autumn.
      During the five weeks between September 29th and November 3rd Saarinen was tested four times.
      Saarinen reports on the testing on her website.
     
On Monday morning Saarinen said that she would make public the information regarding the number of times she has been tested and the test dates.
      On the same evening the data appeared on her personal Internet site, ainokaisa.com.
      Two of the autumn’s tests were carried out on training camps, one in Saarinen’s home in Hollola, and one, perhaps slightly surprisingly, in connection with a roller skiing competition in Italy.
      Between mid-May and mid-September a further four out-of-competition tests were performed on Saarinen.
     
“By going public with the data I want to show how frequently us athletes are being tested. At least from my part I can confirm that ADT (the Finnish Anti-doping Agency) and WADA (the World Anti-doping Agency) have worked remarkably efficiently. In the past six months the testers have paid me eight surprise visits. Furthermore, we athletes have to notify the doping authorities of our whereabouts every single day of the year. Though this may seem slightly laborious, it does promote clean competing very effectively”, Saarinen says on her website.
      Even for this season Saarinen promises a lot of excitement, but only on the ski tracks: “You will never have to worry about my test results!”
     
The Secretary General of the ADT Pirjo Ruutu considers Saarinen’s idea brave and candid.
      “Going public with the test information increases transparency in the anti-doping work. I believe that when athletes spontaneously go public with the test information it makes the anti-doping work more concrete and for its part encourages young athletes to commit themselves to clean sports and fair play”, Ruutu said on Tuesday.
      Ruutu also believes that Saarinen’s example will encourage other athletes to go public with their doping tests.
      Saarinen’s teammate Virpi Kuitunen got immediately excited about the idea and said on Monday that she, too, would publicise her own corresponding information.
     
If she remains fit, Aino-Kaisa Saarinen is likely to be one of Finland's major medal hopes at the Vancouver Olympics.
      At the FIS Nordic World Championships in Liberec in February of this year she won three gold medals and a bronze, and she also has a bronze medal from the last Olympics in Torino, won in the team sprint alongside Virpi Kuitunen.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Aino-Kaisa Saarinen enjoys a perfect day (20.2.2009)

See also:
  Finnish Olympic Committee sets stiff medals target for Vancouver (28.5.2009)

Links:
  Aino-Kaisa Saarinen website (in Finnish)
  WADA

Helsingin Sanomat