Harri Kirvesniemi
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Men's cross country skiing | ||
| Olympic Games | ||
.svg.png){kind=icon} | 1980 Lake Placid | 4 x 10 km |
| | 1984 Sarajevo | 15 km |
| | 1984 Sarajevo | 4 x 10 km |
| | 1992 Albertville | 4 x 10 km |
| | 1994 Lillehammer | 4 x 10 km |
| | 1998 Nagano | 4 x 10 km |
| World Championships | ||
.svg.png){kind=icon} | 1989 Lahti | 15 km classical |
.svg.png){kind=icon} | 1989 Lahti | 4 x 10 km |
| | 1995 Thunder Bay | 4 x 10 km |
| | 1997 Trondheim | 4 x 10 km |
| | 1982 Oslo | 15 km |
| | 1982 Oslo | 4 x 10 km |
| | 1985 Seefeld | 30 km |
| | 1991 Val di Fiemme | 4 x 10 km |
| Disqualified | 2001 Lahti | 4 x 10 km |
Harri Tapani Kirvesniemi (born 10 May 1958 in Mikkeli) is a Finnish former cross country skier who competed from 1980 to 2001. During his career he won six Olympic medals (all bronzes), and also the 50 km event at the Holmenkollen ski festival in 2000. He was born at Mikkeli.
His biggest successes though were at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships, where he earned a total of 8 medals. This included one gold (15 km: 1989), three silvers (4 x 10 km: 1989, 1995. 1997), and four bronzes (15 km: 1982, 30 km: 1985, 4 x 10 km: 1982 (shared with East Germany), 1991). In 1998, he earned the Holmenkollen medal (shared with Fred Børre Lundberg, Larissa Lazutina, and Alexey Prokurorov). He was married to Marja-Liisa Kirvesniemi, who won the Holmenkollen medal in 1989. This makes them the third husband-wife team to ever win the Holmenkollen medal.
During the 2001 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Lahti, he tested positive for use of the banned plasma expander Hemohes together with five fellow Finnish cross-country skiers. This resulted in the disqualification of the gold-medal winning Finnish relay team. Following the scandal, Kirvesniemi retired from competitive skiing. In 2013, he received a 6-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.[1]
Presently Kirvesniemi works as the Plant Manager and Board Member at Yoko Ski.
See also
- List of sportspeople sanctioned for doping offences
- List of athletes with the most appearances at Olympic Games
- List of multiple Olympic medalists in one event
References
- ↑ Passi, Minna (18 October 2013). "Ex-hiihtäjille ehdollista dopingjupakasta – oikeuden mukaan kolmikko käytti kiellettyjä aineita". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 19 October 2013.
External links
- Harri Kirvesniemi at the International Ski Federation
- sports-reference
- Holmenkollen medalists - click Holmenkollmedaljen for downloadable pdf file (Norwegian)
- Holmenkollen winners since 1892 - click Vinnere for downloadable pdf file (Norwegian)