Kerry Joel Lynch (born July 31, 1957 in

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

) is an American former

nordic combined Nordic combined is a winter sport in which athletes compete in cross-country skiing (sport), cross-country skiing and ski jumping. The Nordic combined at the Winter Olympics has been held since the first ever 1924 Winter Olympics, Winter Olympic ...

skier who competed from 1979 to 1987. He is best known for his doping scandal at the 1987 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in

Oberstdorf Oberstdorf ( Low Alemannic: ''Oberschdorf'') is a municipality and skiing and hiking town in Germany, located in the Allgäu region of the Bavarian Alps. It is the southernmost settlement in Germany and one of its highest towns. At the&nb ...

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

in which he and his coach Jim Page approved a plan to give Lynch an illegal transfusion to increase his red

blood cell A blood cell, also called a hematopoietic cell, hemocyte, or hematocyte, is a cell produced through hematopoiesis and found mainly in the blood. Major types of blood cells include red blood cells (erythrocytes), white blood cells (leukocytes), ...

count. Lynch would finish second in the 15 km individual event behind

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

's Torbjørn Løkken, only to be stripped of his medal when he and Page confessed to the scandal. Lynch would serve a two-year suspension as a result and was prohibited from participating in the

1988 Winter Olympics The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games (french: XVes Jeux olympiques d'hiver) and commonly known as Calgary 1988 ( bla, Mohkínsstsisi 1988; sto, Wîchîspa Oyade 1988 or ; cr, Otôskwanihk 1998/; srs, Guts� ...

. He is the only Nordic combined athlete to ever been stripped of a medal either in the

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...

or in the

FIS Nordic World Ski Championships The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships is a biennial nordic skiing event organized by the International Ski Federation (FIS). The World Championships was started in 1925 for men and opened for women's participation in 1954. World Championship e ...

. The

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

would not win a Nordic combined medal at the Nordic skiing World Championships until Johnny Spillane's gold medal in the 7.5 km sprint event at

Val di Fiemme 300px, Location of the Fiemme Valley in Trentino. 300px, The Passo_Lusia.html"_;"title="Lagorai_seen_from_Passo_Lusia">Lagorai_seen_from_Passo_Lusia. Fiemme_Valley_(_it.html" ;"title="Passo_Lusia..html" ;"title="Passo_Lusia.html" ;"title="Lagora ...

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

. Despite his doping controversy Lynch competed in two

, earning his best finish of 13th at

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its a ...

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

. He would also become only the second American to win anything at the

Holmenkollen ski festival The Holmenkollen Ski Festival ( no, Holmenkollen skifestival or ) is a traditional annual Nordic skiing event in Holmenkollen, Oslo, Norway. The full official name of the event is Holmenkollen FIS World Cup Nordic. History It takes place in March ...

when he won the Nordic combined event in 1983, fifteen years after

John Bower John Bower (November 8, 1940 – June 6, 2017) was an American nordic combined skier who competed in the 1960s and later went on to become a coach of the American nordic skiing team for the 1976 and 1980 Winter Olympic team. He also became ...

won the same event. Lynch's only other World Cup victory also took place in 1983 in a 15 km individual event in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. He also was three-time national champion in the Nordic combined event (1981, 1983, 1986).

References

Christine Aschwaden's September 10, 2000 ''Washington Post'' story on sports doping that included Lynch's scandal.
*
Holmenkollen winners since 1892
- click Vinnere for downloadable pdf file

Review of the 1987 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships for the 2005 event.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lynch, Kerry 1957 births American male Nordic combined skiers Nordic combined skiers at the 1980 Winter Olympics Nordic combined skiers at the 1984 Winter Olympics Doping cases in Nordic combined Holmenkollen Ski Festival winners Living people Skiers from Denver