Virginia Berasategui Luna (born 15 July 1975 in

Bilbao ) , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = 275 px , map_caption = Interactive map outlining Bilbao , pushpin_map = Spain Basque Country#Spain#Europe , pushpin_map_caption ...

Biscay Biscay (; eu, Bizkaia ; es, Vizcaya ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilbao. B ...

) is a

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

triathlete A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of swimming, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the time transitioning between the d ...

and

duathlete Duathlon is an athletic event that consists of a running leg, followed by a cycling leg and then another running leg in a format similar to triathlons. The International Triathlon Union governs the sport internationally. Distance and format ...

who represented Spain in international competition. In

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

, Berasategui took third place at the

Ironman World Championships The Ironman World Championship has been held annually in Hawaii since 1978, with an additional race in 1982. It is owned and organized by the World Triathlon Corporation. It is the annual culmination of a series of Ironman triathlon qualification ...

. In March 2013, she announced that she would retire from the sport after the 2013 season.

Career

Berasategui placed second at the 1997 Europe Triathlon Championships and won four medals at the

ITU Long Distance Triathlon World Championships The World Triathlon Long Distance Championships is a triathlon race held annually since 1994. The championships involve a continuous swim-cycle-run, over distances varying between that of an Olympic-distance and an Iron-distance triathlon race. The ...

between 1997 and 2010. Additionally, she won two medals at the European Championship in 2009 and 2010, a medal at the 2009 Ironman World Championship and three medals at the

Ironman 70.3 An Ironman 70.3, also known as a Half Ironman, is one of a series of long-distance triathlon races organized by the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC). The "70.3" refers to the total distance in miles (113.0 km) covered in the race, consisting o ...

European Championship between 2007 and 2012. In duathlon she took third at the 1997 ITU Duathlon World Championships.

Doping

In 2005, Berasategui tested positive for EPO following her win at Ironman Lanzarote. The allegations were eventually dropped because of doubts regarding the validity of the testing for EPO at the time. Berasategui claimed "extreme high protein levels in their urine after strenuous exercise" to be the reason for the

false positive A false positive is an error in binary classification in which a test result incorrectly indicates the presence of a condition (such as a disease when the disease is not present), while a false negative is the opposite error, where the test result ...

. In June 2013, it was announced that Berasategui had tested positive for doping during the Bilbao Triathlon held on 18 May 2013, an event in which Berasategui won the half distance race. One of six anti-doping controls carried out after the Bilbao race had tested positive to which Berasategui asked for a counter-analysis on. However, almost two weeks later, Berasategui confessed to the doping charges. In a statement she said that she would not appeal because she knew that she was guilty and expressed the desire to be open and honest. She apologized and stated that she made "the worst mistake in which an athlete can fall."

Notable results

References

External links

www.3vir.com

ITU Profile Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Berasategui, Virginia 1975 births Living people Spanish female triathletes Triathletes from the Basque Country (autonomous community) Sportspeople from Bilbao Doping cases in triathlon