Harri Kirvesniemi

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 retired after being caught doping at the 2001 World Championship in Lahti.

Harri Kirvesniemi
Kirvesniemi in February 2017
Country Finland
Full nameHarri Tapani Kirvesniemi
Born (1958-05-10) 10 May 1958
Mikkeli, Finland
Spouse(s)
​
​
(m. 1984; div. 2011)​
Ski clubMikkelin Hiihtaejaet
World Cup career
Seasons1982–2001
Individual wins6
Team wins7
Indiv. podiums16
Team podiums23
Indiv. starts127
Team starts37
Overall titles0 – (3rd in 1982, 1984)
Discipline titles0

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 
198021N/A8N/A18—Bronze
198425N/ABronzeN/A74Bronze
198829N/A8N/A9228
1992336N/A1110—Bronze
1994359N/ADNS—12Bronze
19983913N/ADNS6—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 
198223N/ABronzeN/AN/A—9N/ABronze
198526N/A6N/AN/ABronze7N/A4
198728N/A12N/AN/A47N/A6
198930N/AGold—N/A423N/ASilver
1991326N/A—N/A5—N/ABronze
19933418N/AN/A—10—N/A4
1995365N/AN/A76—N/ASilver
1997388N/AN/ADNF—DNFN/ASilver
19994013N/AN/ADNF—13N/A5
200142N/A4N/A—8——DSQ

Season standings
 Season   Age 
Overall Long Distance Middle Distance Sprint
198223N/AN/AN/A
19832414N/AN/AN/A
198425N/AN/AN/A
1985269N/AN/AN/A
19862717N/AN/AN/A
1987289N/AN/AN/A
19882915N/AN/AN/A
19893012N/AN/AN/A
19903112N/AN/AN/A
19913213N/AN/AN/A
1992337N/AN/AN/A
19933429N/AN/AN/A
19943512N/AN/AN/A
1995367N/AN/AN/A
19963721N/AN/AN/A
1997382935N/A26
1998393837N/A36
1999403330N/A61
20004114516—
20014257N/AN/A—

Individual podiums
  • 6 victories
  • 16 podiums
No. Season Date Location Race Level Place
1 1981–82 23 February 1982 Oslo, Norway15 km IndividualWorld Championships[1]3rd
219 March 1982 Štrbské Pleso, Czechoslovakia15 km IndividualWorld Cup1st
327 March 1982 Kastelruth, Italy15 km IndividualWorld Cup3rd
4 1983–84 10 December 1983 Reit im Winkl, West Germany15 km IndividualWorld Cup2nd
513 February 1984 Sarajevo, Yugoslavia15 km IndividualOlympic Games[1]3rd
6 1984–85 18 January 1985 Seefeld, Austria30 km IndividualWorld Championships[1]3rd
73 March 1985 Lahti, Finland50 km IndividualWorld Cup3rd
81986–8710 January 1987 Canmore, Canada15 km Individual CWorld Cup1st
9 1987–88 27 March 1988 Rovaniemi, Finland50 km Individual CWorld Cup3rd
101988–8922 February 1989 Lahti, Finland15 km Individual CWorld Championships[1]1st
11 1989–90 10 March 1990 Örnsköldsvik, Sweden30 km Individual CWorld Cup2nd
12 1990–91 16 March 1991 Oslo, Norway50 km Individual CWorld Cup2nd
131993–9412 March 1994 Falun, Sweden30 km Individual CWorld Cup1st
141994–9514 January 1995 Nové Město, Czech Republic15 km Individual CWorld Cup1st
15 1999–00 12 January 2000 Nové Město, Czech Republic15 km Individual CWorld Cup3rd
1611 March 2000 Oslo, Norway50 km Individual CWorld Cup1st

Team podiums
  • 7 victories
  • 23 podiums
No. Season Date Location Race Level Place Teammate(s)
1 1981–82 25 February 1982 Oslo, Norway4 × 10 km RelayWorld Championships[1]3rdHärkönen / Karvonen / Mieto
2 1983–84 16 February 1984 Sarajevo, Yugoslavia4 × 10 km RelayOlympic Games[1]3rdRistanen / Mieto / Karvonen
3 1985–86 9 March 1986 Falun, Sweden4 × 10 km Relay FWorld Cup3rdHynninen / Ristanen / Karvonen
4 1986–87 19 March 1987 Oslo, Norway4 × 10 km Relay CWorld Cup2ndLaukkanen / Ristanen / Karvonen
5 1988–89 24 February 1989 Lahti, Finland4 × 10 km Relay C/FWorld Championships[1]2ndKarvonen / Ristanen / Räsänen
6 1990–91 15 February 1991 Val di Fiemme, Italy4 × 10 km Relay C/FWorld Championships[1]3rdKuusisto / Isometsä / Räsänen
7 1991–92 18 February 1992 Albertville, France4 × 10 km Relay C/FOlympic Games[1]3rdKuusisto / Räsänen / Isometsä
8 1993–94 22 February 1994 Lillehammer, Norway4 × 10 km Relay C/FOlympic Games[1]3rdMyllylä / Räsänen / Isometsä
94 March 1994 Lahti, Finland4 × 10 km Relay CWorld Cup1stRepo / Isometsä / Räsänen
101994–9515 January 1995 Nové Město, Czech Republic4 × 10 km Relay CWorld Cup1stHietamäki / Isometsä / Myllylä
1112 February 1995 Oslo, Norway4 × 5 km Relay C/FWorld Cup1stHietamäki / Kuusisto / Repo
1217 March 1995 Thunder Bay, Canada4 × 10 km Relay C/FWorld Championships[1]2ndHietamäki / Räsänen / Isometsä
1326 March 1995 Sapporo, Japan4 × 10 km Relay C/FWorld Cup3rdKuusisto / Repo / Isometsä
141995–9614 January 1996 Nové Město, Czech Republic4 × 10 km Relay CWorld Cup1stRepo / Myllylä / Isometsä
151996–9724 November 1996 Kiruna, Sweden4 × 10 km Relay CWorld Cup1stRepo / Myllylä / Isometsä
168 December 1996 Davos, Switzerland4 × 10 km Relay CWorld Cup1stIsometsä / Repo / Myllylä
1728 February 1997 Trondheim, Norway4 × 10 km Relay C/FWorld Championships[1]2ndMyllylä / Räsänen / Isometsä
18 1997–98 23 November 1997 Beitostølen, Norway4 × 10 km Relay CWorld Cup2ndIsometsä / Repo / Taipale
196 March 1998 Lahti, Finland4 × 10 km Relay C/FWorld Cup1stMyllylä / Repo / Isometsä
20 1998–99 14 March 1999 Falun, Sweden4 × 10 km Relay C/FWorld Cup2ndImmonen / Myllylä / Repo
21 1999–00 19 December 1999 Davos, Switzerland4 × 10 km Relay CWorld Cup2ndImmonen / Myllylä / Isometsä
225 March 2000 Lahti, Finland4 × 10 km Relay C/FWorld Cup2ndImmonen / Kattilakoski / Repo
23 2000–01 26 November 2000 Beitostølen, Norway4 × 10 km Relay C/FWorld Cup2ndImmonen / 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.
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