Virpi Kuitunen
| Virpi Kuitunen | ||
 | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Virpi Katriina Kuitunen | |
| Date of birth | 20 May 1976 | |
| Place of birth | Kangasniemi, Finland | |
| Height | 174 cm | |
| Professional information | ||
| Club | Kangasniemen Kalske | |
| Skis | Rossignol | |
| World Cup | ||
| Seasons | 1997- | |
| Wins | 10 | |
| Additional podiums | 16 | |
| Total podiums | 26 | |
| Infobox last updated on: {{{updated}}} | ||
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Women's cross country skiing | ||
Competitor for  Finland | ||
| Olympic Games | ||
| Bronze | 2006 Turin | Team sprint |
| Bronze | 2010 Vancouver | 4x5 km relay |
| World Championships | ||
| Gold | 2001 Lahti | 5 km + 5 km combined pursuit |
| Gold | 2007 Sapporo | Team sprint |
| Gold | 2007 Sapporo | 30 km |
| Gold | 2007 Sapporo | 4 x 5 km |
| Gold | 2009 Liberec | Team sprint |
| Gold | 2009 Liberec | 4 x 5 km |
| Silver | 2005 Oberstdorf | 30 km |
| Bronze | 2007 Sapporo | Individual sprint |
| Disqualified | 2001 Lahti | 4 x 5 km |
Virpi Kuitunen (born 20 May 1976 in Kangasniemi) is a Finnish cross country skier who has competed since 1995. She won a bronze medal in the team sprint event (with Aino Kaisa Saarinen) at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin and earned her best individual finish of fifth in the individual sprint event in those same games.
Kuitunen has seven medals at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 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 competition for women in 2006–07, winning over Norway's Marit Bjørgen 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. Kuitunen also won the Tour de Ski in 2008-09.
[edit] Doping controversy
At the 2001 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Lahti, Kuitunen was disqualified when she tested positive for hydroxyethyl starch, a banned blood plasma 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.
