Veerpalu appeal rejected

TALLINN -- The FIS has thrown out an appeal by Estonian champion skier Andrus Veerpalu, upholding the doping charge that was levelled against him earlier this year.

The international skiing body raised Veerpalu's competition ban from two to three years, though the 40-year-old skier retired from the sport shortly after the doping allegations emerged.

Veerpalu, a two-time olympic gold medalist (in 2002 and 2006), has repeatedly denied the charges.

On Jan 29 Veerpalu's A and B samples -- taken after a race in Otepaa, Estonia -- revealed a higher than permitted level of a growth hormone. The skier then suspiciously brought his career to an abrupt end on the eve of the Holmenkollen world championship in February.

The anti-doping committee ruled that there was no way the growth hormone could have entered his system by accident.