Jari Isometsä

Jari Olavi Isometsä (born 11 September 1968) is a Finnish former cross-country skier who competed from 1990 to 2006. He won three bronze medals in the 4 × 10 km relay at the Winter Olympics (1992, 1994, 1998).

Isometsä also won four medals at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships with two silvers (4 × 10 km: 1995, 1997) and two bronzes (4 × 10 km: 1991, 10 km + 15 km combined pursuit: 1995). In the World Cup, he took four victories in races between 10 km and 30 km.

Isometsä was among the six Finnish skiers who were caught of doping in the Finnish 2001 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships scandal for taking hydroxyethyl starch (HES), a blood plasma expander usually used to cover up the use of erythropoietin (EPO) in athletes. He was stripped of his silver medal in the 10 km + 10 km combined pursuit and served a two-year suspension from the FIS, IOC, and World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), effectively ending his career as a world-class skier.

In 2013, Isometsä received a six-month suspended sentence after the Helsinki District Court found that he had committed perjury when witnessing to the court in 2011 that he was unaware of any doping use in the 1990s.

Cross-country skiing results All results are sourced from the International Ski Federation (FIS).

Olympic Games 3 medals – (3 bronze) Year Age 10 km Pursuit 30 km 50 km 4 × 10 km relay 1992 23 16 12 — 22Bronze 1994 25 23 6 — Bronze 1998 29 15 8 4 — Bronze

World Championships 4 medals – (2 silver, 2 bronze) Year Age 10 km 15 km Pursuit 30 km 50 km Sprint 4 × 10 km relay 1991 22 24 16 — — Bronze 1993 24 15 13 — DNF 4 1995 26 8 Bronze 9 11 Silver 1997 28 14 6 14 13 Silver 1999 30 11 4 — 14 5 2001 32 — — — —

World Cup Season standings Season Age OverallDistanceLong DistanceMiddle DistanceSprint 1990 21 40 1992 23 22 1993 24 22 1994 25 1995 26 5 1996 27 1997 28 6 16 6 1998 29 5 5 9 1999 30 8 15 — 2000 31 12 53 2001 32 53 — 2003 34 78 — 2004 35 119 79 — 2005 36 — 2006 37 —

Individual podiums 4 victories 23 podiums

Team podiums 7 victories – (7 ) 21 podiums – (19 , 2 )

Note: Until the 1999 World Championships and the 1994 Olympics, World Championship and Olympic races were included in the World Cup scoring system.