Harri Kirvesniemi

Harri Kirvesniemi
Harri Kirvesniemi
	Kirvesniemi in February 2017
Country	Finland
Full name	Harri Tapani Kirvesniemi
Born	10 May 1958 (age 66); Mikkeli, Finland
Spouse(s)	Marja-Liisa Hämäläinen (m. 1984; div. 2011)
Ski club	Mikkelin Hiihtaejaet
World Cup career
Seasons	20 – (1982–2001)
Starts	127
Podiums	16
Wins	6
Overall titles	0 – (3rd in 1982, 1984)
Discipline titles	0
Medal record
Men's cross-country skiing
Representing Finland
International nordic ski competitions
Olympic Games
World Championships

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
Season	Age	Overall	Long Distance	Middle Distance	Sprint
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	Place
1	1981–82	23 February 1982	Oslo, Norway	15 km Individual	World Championships^[1]	3rd
2		19 March 1982	Štrbské Pleso, Czechoslovakia	15 km Individual	World Cup	1st
3		27 March 1982	Kastelruth, Italy	15 km Individual	World Cup	3rd
4	1983–84	10 December 1983	Reit im Winkl, West Germany	15 km Individual	World Cup	2nd
5	1983–84	13 February 1984	Sarajevo, Yugoslavia	15 km Individual	Olympic Games^[1]	3rd
6	1984–85	18 January 1985	Seefeld, Austria	30 km Individual	World Championships^[1]	3rd
7	1984–85	3 March 1985	Lahti, Finland	50 km Individual	World Cup	3rd
8	1986–87	10 January 1987	Canmore, Canada	15 km Individual C	World Cup	1st
9	1987–88	27 March 1988	Rovaniemi, Finland	50 km Individual C	World Cup	3rd
10	1988–89	22 February 1989	Lahti, Finland	15 km Individual C	World Championships^[1]	1st
11	1989–90	10 March 1990	Örnsköldsvik, Sweden	30 km Individual C	World Cup	2nd
12	1990–91	16 March 1991	Oslo, Norway	50 km Individual C	World Cup	2nd
13	1993–94	12 March 1994	Falun, Sweden	30 km Individual C	World Cup	1st
14	1994–95	14 January 1995	Nové Město, Czech Republic	15 km Individual C	World Cup	1st
15	1999–00	12 January 2000	Nové Město, Czech Republic	15 km Individual C	World Cup	3rd
16	1999–00	11 March 2000	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	Oslo, Norway	4 × 10 km Relay	World Championships^[1]	3rd	Härkönen / Karvonen / Mieto
2	1983–84	16 February 1984	Sarajevo, Yugoslavia	4 × 10 km Relay	Olympic Games^[1]	3rd	Ristanen / Mieto / Karvonen
3	1985–86	9 March 1986	Falun, Sweden	4 × 10 km Relay F	World Cup	3rd	Hynninen / Ristanen / Karvonen
4	1986–87	19 March 1987	Oslo, Norway	4 × 10 km Relay C	World Cup	2nd	Laukkanen / Ristanen / Karvonen
5	1988–89	24 February 1989	Lahti, Finland	4 × 10 km Relay C/F	World Championships^[1]	2nd	Karvonen / Ristanen / Räsänen
6	1990–91	15 February 1991	Val di Fiemme, Italy	4 × 10 km Relay C/F	World Championships^[1]	3rd	Kuusisto / Isometsä / Räsänen
7	1991–92	18 February 1992	Albertville, France	4 × 10 km Relay C/F	Olympic Games^[1]	3rd	Kuusisto / Räsänen / Isometsä
8	1993–94	22 February 1994	Lillehammer, Norway	4 × 10 km Relay C/F	Olympic Games^[1]	3rd	Myllylä / Räsänen / Isometsä
9	1993–94	4 March 1994	Lahti, Finland	4 × 10 km Relay C	World Cup	1st	Repo / Isometsä / Räsänen
10	1994–95	15 January 1995	Nové Město, Czech Republic	4 × 10 km Relay C	World Cup	1st	Hietamäki / Isometsä / Myllylä
11		12 February 1995	Oslo, Norway	4 × 5 km Relay C/F	World Cup	1st	Hietamäki / Kuusisto / Repo
12		17 March 1995	Thunder Bay, Canada	4 × 10 km Relay C/F	World Championships^[1]	2nd	Hietamäki / Räsänen / Isometsä
13		26 March 1995	Sapporo, Japan	4 × 10 km Relay C/F	World Cup	3rd	Kuusisto / Repo / Isometsä
14	1995–96	14 January 1996	Nové Město, Czech Republic	4 × 10 km Relay C	World Cup	1st	Repo / Myllylä / Isometsä
15	1996–97	24 November 1996	Kiruna, Sweden	4 × 10 km Relay C	World Cup	1st	Repo / Myllylä / Isometsä
16		8 December 1996	Davos, Switzerland	4 × 10 km Relay C	World Cup	1st	Isometsä / Repo / Myllylä
17		28 February 1997	Trondheim, Norway	4 × 10 km Relay C/F	World Championships^[1]	2nd	Myllylä / Räsänen / Isometsä
18	1997–98	23 November 1997	Beitostølen, Norway	4 × 10 km Relay C	World Cup	2nd	Isometsä / Repo / Taipale
19	1997–98	6 March 1998	Lahti, Finland	4 × 10 km Relay C/F	World Cup	1st	Myllylä / Repo / Isometsä
20	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 / Isometsä
22	1999–00	5 March 2000	Lahti, Finland	4 × 10 km Relay C/F	World Cup	2nd	Immonen / Kattilakoski / Repo
23	2000–01	26 November 2000	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.

References

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

External links

Harri Kirvesniemi at the International Ski and Snowboard Federation
Harri Kirvesniemi at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com (archived)
Holmenkollen medalists – click Holmenkollmedaljen for downloadable pdf file (in Norwegian)
Holmenkollen winners since 1892 – click Vinnere for downloadable pdf file (in Norwegian)

[1] Passi, Minna (18 October 2013). "Ex-hiihtäjille ehdollista dopingjupakasta – oikeuden mukaan kolmikko käytti kiellettyjä aineita". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 19 October 2013.

[FISprofile-2] "Athlete : KIRVESNIEMI Harri". FIS-Ski. International Ski Federation. Retrieved 27 February 2018.

[1]

[2]

v t e Holmenkollen Medal
Until 1900	1895: Viktor Thorn (NOR) 1897: Asbjørn Nilssen (NOR) 1899: Paul Braaten (NOR), Robert Pehrson (NOR)
1900–1950	1901: Aksel Refstad (NOR) 1903: Karl Hovelsen (NOR) 1904: Harald Smith (NOR) 1905: Jonas Holmen (NOR) 1907: Per Bakken 1908: Einar Kristiansen (NOR) 1909: Thorvald Hansen 1910: Lauritz Bergendahl 1911: Otto Tangen (NOR), Knut Holst (NOR) 1912: Olav Bjaaland (NOR) 1914: Johan Kristoffersen (NOR) 1915: Sverre Østbye (NOR) 1916: Lars Høgvold (NOR) 1918: Hassa Horn (NOR), Jørgen Hansen (NOR) 1919: Thorleif Haug (NOR), Otto Aasen (NOR) 1923: Thoralf Strømstad (NOR) 1924: Harald Økern (NOR), Johan Grøttumsbråten (NOR) 1925: Einar Landvik (NOR) 1926: Jacob Tullin Thams 1927: Hagbart Haakonsen (NOR), Einar Lindboe (NOR) 1928: Torjus Hemmestveit (NOR), Mikkjel Hemmestveit (NOR) 1931: Hans Vinjarengen (NOR), Ole Stenen (NOR) 1934: Oddbjørn Hagen (NOR) 1935: Arne Rustadstuen (NOR) 1937: Olaf Hoffsbakken (NOR), Birger Ruud (NOR), Martin P. Vangsli (NOR) 1938: Reidar Andersen (NOR), Johan R. Henriksen (NOR) 1939: Sven Selånger (SWE), Lars Bergendahl (NOR), Trygve Brodahl (NOR) 1940: Oscar Gjøslien (NOR), Annar Ryen (NOR) 1947: Elling Rønes (NOR) 1948: Asbjørn Ruud (NOR) 1949: Sigmund Ruud (NOR) 1950: Olav Økern (NOR)
1951–2000	1951: Simon Slåttvik (NOR) 1952: Stein Eriksen (NOR), Torbjørn Falkanger (NOR), Heikki Hasu (FIN), Nils Karlsson (SWE) 1953: Magnar Estenstad (NOR) 1954: Martin Stokken (NOR) 1955: Haakon VII (NOR), Hallgeir Brenden (NOR), Veikko Hakulinen (FIN), Sverre Stenersen (NOR) 1956: Borghild Niskin (NOR), Arnfinn Bergmann (NOR), Arne Hoel (NOR) 1957: Eero Kolehmainen (FIN) 1958: Inger Bjørnbakken (NOR), Håkon Brusveen (NOR) 1959: Gunder Gundersen (NOR) 1960: Helmut Recknagel (GDR), Sixten Jernberg (SWE), Sverre Stensheim (NOR), Tormod Knutsen (NOR) 1961: Harald Grønningen (NOR) 1962: Toralf Engan (NOR) 1963: Alevtina Kolchina (URS), Pavel Kolchin (URS), Astrid Sandvik (NOR), Torbjørn Yggeseth (NOR) 1964: Veikko Kankkonen (FIN), Eero Mäntyranta (FIN), Georg Thoma (FRG), Halvor Næs (NOR) 1965: Arto Tiainen (FIN), Bengt Eriksson (SWE), Arne Larsen (NOR) 1967: Toini Gustafsson (SWE), Ole Ellefsæter (NOR) 1968: Olav V (NOR), Assar Rönnlund (SWE), Gjermund Eggen (NOR), Bjørn Wirkola (NOR) 1969: Odd Martinsen (NOR) 1970: Pål Tyldum (NOR) 1971: Marjatta Kajosmaa (FIN), Berit Mørdre (NOR), Reidar Hjermstad (NOR) 1972: Rauno Miettinen (FIN), Magne Myrmo (NOR) 1973: Einar Bergsland (NOR), Ingolf Mork (NOR), Franz Keller (FRG) 1974: Juha Mieto (FIN) 1975: Gerhard Grimmer (GDR), Oddvar Brå (NOR), Ivar Formo (NOR) 1976: Ulrich Wehling (GDR) 1977: Helena Takalo (FIN), Hilkka Kuntola (FIN), Walter Steiner (SUI) 1979: Ingemar Stenmark (SWE), Erik Håker (NOR), Raisa Smetanina (URS) 1980: Thomas Wassberg (SWE) 1981: Johan Sætre (NOR) 1983: Berit Aunli (NOR), Tom Sandberg (NOR) 1984: Lars Erik Eriksen (NOR), Jakob Vaage (NOR), Armin Kogler (AUT) 1985: Anette Bøe (NOR), Per Bergerud (NOR), Gunde Svan (SWE) 1986: Brit Pettersen (NOR) 1987: Matti Nykänen (FIN), Hermann Weinbuch (FRG) 1989: Marja-Liisa Kirvesniemi (FIN) 1991: Vegard Ulvang (NOR), Trond Einar Elden (NOR), Ernst Vettori (AUT), Jens Weißflog (GER) 1992: Yelena Välbe (RUS) 1993: Emil Kvanlid (NOR) 1994: Lyubov Yegorova (RUS), Vladimir Smirnov (KAZ), Espen Bredesen (NOR) 1995: Kenji Ogiwara (JPN) 1996: Manuela Di Centa (ITA) 1997: Bjarte Engen Vik (NOR), Stefania Belmondo (ITA), Bjørn Dæhlie (NOR) 1998: Fred Børre Lundberg (NOR), Larisa Lazutina (RUS), Alexey Prokurorov (RUS), Harri Kirvesniemi (FIN) 1999: Kazuyoshi Funaki (JPN)
Since 2001	2001: Adam Małysz (POL), Bente Skari (NOR), Thomas Alsgaard (NOR) 2003: Felix Gottwald (AUT), Ronny Ackermann (GER) 2004: Yuliya Chepalova (RUS) 2005: Andrus Veerpalu (EST) 2007: Frode Estil (NOR), Odd-Bjørn Hjelmeset (NOR), Harald V (NOR), Sonja (NOR), Simon Ammann (SUI) 2010: Marit Bjørgen (NOR) 2011: Ole Einar Bjørndalen (NOR), Michael Greis (GER), Andrea Henkel (GER), Janne Ahonen (FIN) 2012: Magdalena Neuner (GER), Emil Hegle Svendsen (NOR) 2013: Tora Berger (NOR), Martin Fourcade (FRA), Therese Johaug (NOR), Gregor Schlierenzauer (AUT) 2014: Magnus Moan (NOR), Eric Frenzel (GER), Thomas Morgenstern (AUT), Darya Domracheva (BLR) 2015: Eldar Rønning (NOR), Anders Bardal (NOR), Anette Sagen (NOR), Kamil Stoch (POL) 2016: Noriaki Kasai (JPN), Tarjei Bø (NOR) 2017: Marie Dorin Habert (FRA), Sara Takanashi (JPN) 2018: Charlotte Kalla (SWE), Princess Astrid (NOR), Hannu Manninen (FIN), Kaisa Mäkäräinen (FIN) 2021: Maren Lundby (NOR), Johannes Thingnes Bø (NOR), Dario Cologna (SWI), Johannes Rydzek (GER) 2022: Tiril Eckhoff (NOR), Marte Olsbu Røiseland (NOR), Johannes Høsflot Klæbo (NOR), Jørgen Graabak (NOR) 2023: Maiken Caspersen Falla (NOR), Stefan Kraft (AUT) 2024: Jessie Diggins (USA), Simen Hegstad Krüger (NOR)

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