HELSINKI (AP) — A regional court in Finland has imposed suspended prison sentences on a former top skier and an ex-ski association coach for lying during an investigation into doping in Finnish cross-country skiing in the 1990s.
The Helsinki District Court on Thursday gave skier Jari Rasanen a 12-month sentence for failing to tell the truth about the use of banned substances and handed coach Pekka Vahasoyrinki a nine-month term for lying about providing banned substances to skiers.
Police opened an investigation into doping claims in 2008 after a TV report, backed by former ski coach Kari-Pekka Kyro, claimed that the Finnish Ski Association had covered up the systematic use of banned substances by skiers in the 1990s.
