Harri Tapani Kirvesniemi (born 10 May 1958) 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 retired after being caught doping at the 2001 World Championship in Lahti.
Career His biggest successes though were at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships, where he earned a total of eight medals. This included one gold (15 km: 1989), three silvers (4 × 10 km relay: 1989, 1995. 1997), and four bronzes (15 km: 1982, 30 km: 1985, 4 × 10 km relay: 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.
Presently Kirvesniemi works as the Plant Manager and Board Member at Yoko Ski.
Cross-country skiing results All results are sourced from the International Ski Federation (FIS).
Olympic Games 6 medals – (6 bronze) Year Age 10 km 15 km Pursuit 30 km 50 km 4 × 10 km relay 1980 21 8 18 — Bronze 1984 25 Bronze 7 4Bronze 1988 29 8 9 22 8 1992 33 6 11 10 —Bronze 1994 35 9 — 12 Bronze 1998 39 13 6 — Bronze
World Championships 8 medals – (1 gold, 3 silver, 4 bronze) Year Age 10 km 15 km classical 15 km freestyle Pursuit 30 km 50 km Sprint 4 × 10 km relay 1982 23 Bronze — 9 Bronze 1985 26 6 Bronze 74 1987 28 12 4 206 1989 30 Gold — 423Silver 1991 32 6 — 5 — Bronze 1993 34 18 DNS 10 — 4 1995 36 5 7 6 — Silver 1997 38 8 — Silver 1999 40 13 — 13 5 2001 42 4 — 8 — —
World Cup Season standings Season Age OverallLong DistanceMiddle DistanceSprint 1982 23 1983 24 14 1984 25 1985 26 9 1986 27 17 1987 28 9 1988 29 15 1989 30 12 1990 31 12 1991 32 13 1992 33 7 1993 34 29 1994 35 12 1995 36 7 1996 37 21 1997 38 29 35 26 1998 39 38 37 36 1999 40 33 30 61 2000 41 14 5 16 — 2001 42 57 —
Individual podiums 6 victories 16 podiums No. Season Date Location Race Level Place1 1981–82 23 February 1982 Oslo, Norway 15 km Individual World Championships 3rd2 19 March 1982 Štrbské Pleso, Czechoslovakia 15 km Individual World Cup 1st3 27 March 1982 Kastelruth, Italy 15 km Individual World Cup 3rd4 1983–84 10 December 1983 Reit im Winkl, West Germany 15 km Individual World Cup 2nd5 13 February 1984 Sarajevo, Yugoslavia 15 km Individual Olympic Games 3rd6 1984–85 18 January 1985 Seefeld, Austria 30 km Individual World Championships 3rd7 3 March 1985 Lahti, Finland 50 km Individual World Cup 3rd8 1986–87 10 January 1987 Canmore, Canada 15 km Individual CWorld Cup 1st9 1987–88 27 March 1988 Rovaniemi, Finland 50 km Individual C World Cup 3rd10 1988–89 22 February 1989 Lahti, Finland 15 km Individual CWorld Championships 1st11 1989–90 10 March 1990 Örnsköldsvik, Sweden 30 km Individual C World Cup 2nd12 1990–91 16 March 1991 Oslo, Norway 50 km Individual C World Cup 2nd13 1993–94 12 March 1994 Falun, Sweden 30 km Individual CWorld Cup 1st14 1994–95 14 January 1995 Nové Město, Czech Republic 15 km Individual CWorld Cup 1st15 1999–00 12 January 2000 Nové Město, Czech Republic 15 km Individual C World Cup 3rd16 11 March 2000 Oslo, Norway 50 km Individual CWorld Cup 1st
Team podiums 7 victories 23 podiums No. Season Date Location Race Level Place Teammate(s)1 1981–82 25 February 1982 Oslo, Norway 4 × 10 km Relay World Championships 3rd Härkönen / Karvonen / Mieto2 1983–84 16 February 1984 Sarajevo, Yugoslavia 4 × 10 km Relay Olympic Games 3rd Ristanen / Mieto / Karvonen3 1985–86 9 March 1986 Falun, Sweden 4 × 10 km Relay F World Cup 3rd Hynninen / Ristanen / Karvonen4 1986–87 19 March 1987 Oslo, Norway 4 × 10 km Relay C World Cup 2nd Laukkanen / Ristanen / Karvonen5 1988–89 24 February 1989 Lahti, Finland 4 × 10 km Relay C/F World Championships 2nd Karvonen / Ristanen / Räsänen6 1990–91 15 February 1991 Val di Fiemme, Italy 4 × 10 km Relay C/F World Championships 3rd Kuusisto / Isometsä / Räsänen7 1991–92 18 February 1992 Albertville, France 4 × 10 km Relay C/F Olympic Games 3rd Kuusisto / Räsänen / Isometsä8 1993–94 22 February 1994 Lillehammer, Norway 4 × 10 km Relay C/F Olympic Games 3rd Myllylä / Räsänen / Isometsä9 4 March 1994 Lahti, Finland 4 × 10 km Relay C World Cup 1st Repo / Isometsä / Räsänen101994–95 15 January 1995 Nové Město, Czech Republic 4 × 10 km Relay CWorld Cup 1st Hietamäki / Isometsä / Myllylä11 12 February 1995 Oslo, Norway 4 × 5 km Relay C/F World Cup 1st Hietamäki / Kuusisto / Repo12 17 March 1995 Thunder Bay, Canada 4 × 10 km Relay C/F World Championships 2nd Hietamäki / Räsänen / Isometsä1326 March 1995 Sapporo, Japan 4 × 10 km Relay C/F World Cup 3rd Kuusisto / Repo / Isometsä141995–96 14 January 1996 Nové Město, Czech Republic 4 × 10 km Relay CWorld Cup 1st Repo / Myllylä / Isometsä 151996–97 24 November 1996 Kiruna, Sweden 4 × 10 km Relay CWorld Cup 1st Repo / Myllylä / Isometsä 16 8 December 1996 Davos, Switzerland 4 × 10 km Relay C World Cup 1st Isometsä / Repo / Myllylä17 28 February 1997 Trondheim, Norway 4 × 10 km Relay C/F World Championships 2nd Myllylä / Räsänen / Isometsä18 1997–98 23 November 1997 Beitostølen, Norway 4 × 10 km Relay C World Cup 2nd Isometsä / Repo / Taipale19 6 March 1998 Lahti, Finland 4 × 10 km Relay C/F World Cup 1st Myllylä / Repo / Isometsä20 1998–99 14 March 1999 Falun, Sweden 4 × 10 km Relay C/F World Cup 2nd Immonen / Myllylä / Repo 21 1999–00 19 December 1999 Davos, Switzerland 4 × 10 km Relay C World Cup 2nd Immonen / Myllylä / Isometsä22 5 March 2000 Lahti, Finland 4 × 10 km Relay C/F World Cup 2nd Immonen / Kattilakoski / Repo23 2000–01 26 November 2000 Beitostølen, Norway 4 × 10 km Relay C/F World Cup 2nd Immonen / Myllylä / Repo
Note: Until the 1999 World Championships and the 1994 Olympics, World Championship and Olympic races were included in the World Cup scoring system.
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
External links
Holmenkollen medalists – click Holmenkollmedaljen for downloadable pdf file Holmenkollen winners since 1892 – click Vinnere for downloadable pdf file