The doping sample given by Luusua at the end of July 2021 contained substances banned in sports.
13:28 • Updated 2:13 PM
Finnish former long-distance skier Ari Luusua has been caught doping.
The matter was reported by the Sports Judicial Security Committee on Monday.
According to the decision, 34-year-old Luusua has been banned from practicing sports for four years on the basis of a doping offense.
The doping sample provided by Luusua on July 20, 2021 outside the competition contained substances prohibited in sports.
The Finnish Center for Ethics in Sport says that a metabolite of drostanolone and meldonium were found in a doping sample from Luusua.
Luusua was informed of a positive test result on August 27, 2021 and was placed under a temporary ban on operating the sport.
The Anti-Doping Disciplinary Committee issued its decision on the case on March 1, 2022, after which Luusua appealed the decision to the Sports Judicial Security Committee.
Luusua based his complaint on the fact that at the time of testing in July 2021, he had ended his career. When the skier announced the end of his career at Instagram last September, he said he had already made his decision to quit in June. The decision to discontinue was considered surprising in species circles.
In Luusua’s view, Suek no longer had a reason to include him in the Anti-Doping Code and to take him for a doping test.
However, Luusua had a valid two-year athlete contract with a member of the Swedish Ski Association at the time of testing. The Sports Legal Protection Board considered that he could also have been subject to the FIS Anti-Doping Code and therefore Luusua’s complaint was rejected.
Luusu represented Taivalkoski’s Metsä-Veikko and previously in his career Ounasvaara Ski Club and Ski Team Mäenpää.
Luusua competed in the Cross Country Skiing Cup for the first time in Lahti in March 2011.
The ban on sports in Luusua ends on August 26, 2025.