Harri Kirvesniemi


Harri Tapani Kirvesniemi is a Finnish former cross-country skier who competed from 1980 to 2001. During his career he won six Olympic medals, and also the 50 km event at the Holmenkollen ski festival in 2000.

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, three silvers, and four bronzes.
In 1998, he earned the Holmenkollen medal. 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.

Olympic Games

Year Age 10 km 15 km
classical 		15 km
freestyle 		Pursuit 30 km 50 km Sprint 4 × 10 km
relay
198223Bronze—9Bronze
1985266Bronze74
19872812476
198930Gold—423Silver
1991326—5—Bronze
19933418—10—4
199536576—Silver
1997388—Silver
19994013—135
2001424—8——

World Cup

Season standings

Individual podiums

No.SeasonDateLocationRaceLevelPlace
1 1981–82 23 February 1982 Oslo, Norway15 km IndividualWorld Championships3rd
2 1981–82 19 March 1982 Štrbské Pleso, Czechoslovakia15 km IndividualWorld Cup1st
3 1981–82 27 March 1982 Kastelruth, Italy15 km IndividualWorld Cup3rd
4 1983–84 10 December 1983 Reit im Winkl, West Germany15 km IndividualWorld Cup2nd
5 1983–84 13 February 1984 Sarajevo, Yugoslavia15 km IndividualOlympic Games3rd
6 1984–85 18 January 1985 Seefeld, Austria30 km IndividualWorld Championships3rd
7 1984–85 3 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 Championships1st
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
16 1999–00 11 March 2000 Oslo, Norway50 km Individual CWorld Cup1st

Team podiums

No.SeasonDateLocationRaceLevelPlaceTeammate
1 1981–82 25 February 1982 Oslo, Norway4 × 10 km RelayWorld Championships3rdHärkönen / Karvonen / Mieto
2 1983–84 16 February 1984 Sarajevo, Yugoslavia4 × 10 km RelayOlympic Games3rdRistanen / 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 Championships2ndKarvonen / Ristanen / Räsänen
6 1990–91 15 February 1991 Val di Fiemme, Italy4 × 10 km Relay C/FWorld Championships3rdKuusisto / Isometsä / Räsänen
7 1991–92 18 February 1992 Albertville, France4 × 10 km Relay C/FOlympic Games3rdKuusisto / Räsänen / Isometsä
8 1993–94 22 February 1994 Lillehammer, Norway4 × 10 km Relay C/FOlympic Games3rdMyllylä / Räsänen / Isometsä
9 1993–94 4 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
111994–9512 February 1995 Oslo, Norway4 × 5 km Relay C/FWorld Cup1stHietamäki / Kuusisto / Repo
121994–9517 March 1995 Thunder Bay, Canada4 × 10 km Relay C/FWorld Championships2ndHietamäki / Räsänen / Isometsä
131994–9526 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
161996–978 December 1996 Davos, Switzerland4 × 10 km Relay CWorld Cup1stIsometsä / Repo / Myllylä
171996–9728 February 1997 Trondheim, Norway4 × 10 km Relay C/FWorld Championships2ndMyllylä / Räsänen / Isometsä
18 1997–98 23 November 1997 Beitostølen, Norway4 × 10 km Relay CWorld Cup2ndIsometsä / Repo / Taipale
19 1997–98 6 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
22 1999–00 5 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: Until the 1999 World Championships and the 1994 Olympics, World Championship and Olympic races were included in the World Cup scoring system.