Harri Kirvesniemi

Harri Kirvesniemi
Kirvesniemi in February 2017
Country Finland
Full nameHarri Tapani Kirvesniemi
Born (1958-05-10) 10 May 1958 (age 66)
Mikkeli, Finland
Spouse(s)
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(m. 1984; div. 2011)​
Ski clubMikkelin Hiihtaejaet
World Cup career
Seasons20 – (1982–2001)
Indiv. starts127
Indiv. podiums16
Indiv. wins6
Team starts37
Team podiums23
Team wins7
Overall titles0 – (3rd in 1982, 1984)
Discipline titles0
Medal record
Men's cross-country skiing
Representing  Finland
International nordic ski competitions
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Olympic Games 0 0 6
World Championships 1 3 4
Total 1 3 10
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 1980 Lake Placid 4 × 10 km relay
Bronze medal – third place 1984 Sarajevo 15 km
Bronze medal – third place 1984 Sarajevo 4 × 10 km relay
Bronze medal – third place 1992 Albertville 4 × 10 km relay
Bronze medal – third place 1994 Lillehammer 4 × 10 km relay
Bronze medal – third place 1998 Nagano 4 × 10 km relay
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 1989 Lahti 15 km classical
Silver medal – second place 1989 Lahti 4 × 10 km relay
Silver medal – second place 1995 Thunder Bay 4 × 10 km relay
Silver medal – second place 1997 Trondheim 4 × 10 km relay
Bronze medal – third place 1982 Oslo 15 km
Bronze medal – third place 1982 Oslo 4 × 10 km relay
Bronze medal – third place 1985 Seefeld 30 km
Bronze medal – third place 1991 Val di Fiemme 4 × 10 km relay
Disqualified 2001 Lahti 4 × 10 km relay

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.[1]

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).[2]

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 4 Bronze
1988 29 — 8 — 9 22 8
1992 33 6 — 11 10 — Bronze
1994 35 9 — DNS — 12 Bronze
1998 39 13 — DNS 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 7 — 4
1987 28 — 12 — — 4 7 — 6
1989 30 — Gold — — 4 23 — Silver
1991 32 6 — — — 5 — — Bronze
1993 34 18 — — — 10 — — 4
1995 36 5 — — 7 6 — — Silver
1997 38 8 — — DNF — DNF — Silver
1999 40 13 — — DNF — 13 — 5
2001 42 — 4 — — 8 — — DSQ

World Cup

Season standings

 Season   Age 
Overall Long Distance Middle Distance Sprint
1982 23 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) — — —
1983 24 14 — — —
1984 25 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) — — —
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 Place
1  1981–82  23 February 1982 Norway Oslo, Norway 15 km Individual World Championships[1] 3rd
2 19 March 1982 Czechoslovakia Štrbské Pleso, Czechoslovakia 15 km Individual World Cup 1st
3 27 March 1982 Italy Kastelruth, Italy 15 km Individual World Cup 3rd
4  1983–84  10 December 1983 West Germany Reit im Winkl, West Germany 15 km Individual World Cup 2nd
5 13 February 1984 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Sarajevo, Yugoslavia 15 km Individual Olympic Games[1] 3rd
6  1984–85  18 January 1985 Austria Seefeld, Austria 30 km Individual World Championships[1] 3rd
7 3 March 1985 Finland Lahti, Finland 50 km Individual World Cup 3rd
8 1986–87 10 January 1987 Canada Canmore, Canada 15 km Individual C World Cup 1st
9  1987–88  27 March 1988 Finland Rovaniemi, Finland 50 km Individual C World Cup 3rd
10 1988–89 22 February 1989 Finland Lahti, Finland 15 km Individual C World Championships[1] 1st
11  1989–90  10 March 1990 Sweden Örnsköldsvik, Sweden 30 km Individual C World Cup 2nd
12  1990–91  16 March 1991 Norway Oslo, Norway 50 km Individual C World Cup 2nd
13 1993–94 12 March 1994 Sweden Falun, Sweden 30 km Individual C World Cup 1st
14 1994–95 14 January 1995 Czech Republic Nové Město, Czech Republic 15 km Individual C World Cup 1st
15  1999–00  12 January 2000 Czech Republic Nové Město, Czech Republic 15 km Individual C World Cup 3rd
16 11 March 2000 Norway Oslo, Norway 50 km Individual C World Cup 1st

Team podiums

  • 7 victories
  • 23 podiums
No. Season Date Location Race Level Place Teammate(s)
1  1981–82  25 February 1982 Norway Oslo, Norway 4 × 10 km Relay World Championships[1] 3rd Härkönen / Karvonen / Mieto
2  1983–84  16 February 1984 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Sarajevo, Yugoslavia 4 × 10 km Relay Olympic Games[1] 3rd Ristanen / Mieto / Karvonen
3  1985–86  9 March 1986 Sweden Falun, Sweden 4 × 10 km Relay F World Cup 3rd Hynninen / Ristanen / Karvonen
4  1986–87  19 March 1987 Norway Oslo, Norway 4 × 10 km Relay C World Cup 2nd Laukkanen / Ristanen / Karvonen
5  1988–89  24 February 1989 Finland Lahti, Finland 4 × 10 km Relay C/F World Championships[1] 2nd Karvonen / Ristanen / Räsänen
6  1990–91  15 February 1991 Italy Val di Fiemme, Italy 4 × 10 km Relay C/F World Championships[1] 3rd Kuusisto / Isometsä / Räsänen
7  1991–92  18 February 1992 France Albertville, France 4 × 10 km Relay C/F Olympic Games[1] 3rd Kuusisto / Räsänen / Isometsä
8  1993–94  22 February 1994 Norway Lillehammer, Norway 4 × 10 km Relay C/F Olympic Games[1] 3rd Myllylä / Räsänen / Isometsä
9 4 March 1994 Finland Lahti, Finland 4 × 10 km Relay C World Cup 1st Repo / Isometsä / Räsänen
10 1994–95 15 January 1995 Czech Republic Nové Město, Czech Republic 4 × 10 km Relay C World Cup 1st Hietamäki / Isometsä / Myllylä
11 12 February 1995 Norway Oslo, Norway 4 × 5 km Relay C/F World Cup 1st Hietamäki / Kuusisto / Repo
12 17 March 1995 Canada Thunder Bay, Canada 4 × 10 km Relay C/F World Championships[1] 2nd Hietamäki / Räsänen / Isometsä
13 26 March 1995 Japan Sapporo, Japan 4 × 10 km Relay C/F World Cup 3rd Kuusisto / Repo / Isometsä
14 1995–96 14 January 1996 Czech Republic Nové Město, Czech Republic 4 × 10 km Relay C World Cup 1st Repo / Myllylä / Isometsä
15 1996–97 24 November 1996 Sweden Kiruna, Sweden 4 × 10 km Relay C World Cup 1st Repo / Myllylä / Isometsä
16 8 December 1996 Switzerland Davos, Switzerland 4 × 10 km Relay C World Cup 1st Isometsä / Repo / Myllylä
17 28 February 1997 Norway Trondheim, Norway 4 × 10 km Relay C/F World Championships[1] 2nd Myllylä / Räsänen / Isometsä
18  1997–98  23 November 1997 Norway Beitostølen, Norway 4 × 10 km Relay C World Cup 2nd Isometsä / Repo / Taipale
19 6 March 1998 Finland Lahti, Finland 4 × 10 km Relay C/F World Cup 1st Myllylä / Repo / Isometsä
20  1998–99  14 March 1999 Sweden Falun, Sweden 4 × 10 km Relay C/F World Cup 2nd Immonen / Myllylä / Repo
21  1999–00  19 December 1999 Switzerland Davos, Switzerland 4 × 10 km Relay C World Cup 2nd Immonen / Myllylä / Isometsä
22 5 March 2000 Finland Lahti, Finland 4 × 10 km Relay C/F World Cup 2nd Immonen / Kattilakoski / Repo
23  2000–01  26 November 2000 Norway Beitostølen, Norway 4 × 10 km Relay C/F World Cup 2nd Immonen / Myllylä / Repo

Note: 1 Until the 1999 World Championships and the 1994 Olympics, World Championship and Olympic races were included in the World Cup scoring system.

See also

References

  1. ^ Passi, Minna (18 October 2013). "Ex-hiihtäjille ehdollista dopingjupakasta – oikeuden mukaan kolmikko käytti kiellettyjä aineita". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 19 October 2013.
  2. ^ "Athlete : KIRVESNIEMI Harri". FIS-Ski. International Ski Federation. Retrieved 27 February 2018.