Marja-Liisa Kirvesniemi (née Hämäläinen; born 10 September 1955) is a Finnish former

cross-country skier Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreation ...

Career

She was the big figure at the 1984 Olympics in Sarajevo, winning all three individual cross-country skiing events (5, 10 and 20 km), and a bronze medal for Finland in the relay. In the process, she became the most successful athlete at the 1984 Winter Olympics. At 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� ...

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

, she won another relay bronze medal, and at the

1994 Winter Olympics The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games ( no, De 17. olympiske vinterleker; nn, Dei 17. olympiske vinterleikane) and commonly known as Lillehammer '94, was an international winter multi-sport event held fro ...

Lillehammer Lillehammer () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. Some of the more notable villages in the municip ...

, she won two more bronze medals in the 5 and 30 km. At the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships, Kirvesniemi won three golds in the 10 km (1989) and 4 × 5 km relay (1978, 1989), and five silvers in the 5 km (1985, 1991), 10 km (1985) and 15 km (1989, 1993). She also won the 20 km double pursuit at the 1989

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 ...

. Kirvesniemi won the Holmenkollen medal in 1989. Her husband,

Harri Harri is a given name, and may refer to: *Guto Harri (born 1966), Welsh former BBC Chief Political Correspondent *Harri Anne Smith, American Republican member of the Alabama Senate *Harri Eloranta (born 1963), Finnish biathlete * Harri Hänninen ...

, would be awarded the Holmenkollen medal in 1998. They were the third husband-and-wife pair that won this prestigious honor. They are the only married couple to have both competed at six Olympics, and are among the only eight Finns to have done so - the others being Janne Ahonen (ski jumping), Raimo Helminen (ice hockey), Teemu Selänne (ice hockey),

Kyra Kyrklund Kyra Marie Christine Kyrklund (born 30 November 1951 in Helsinki) is a Finnish dressage rider and trainer who currently lives in West Sussex. In 1991 she and "Matador II" won the World Cup Finals in Paris. She has competed in six Olympics ...

(dressage),

Juha Hirvi Juha Hirvi (born 25 March 1960 in Kymi, Finland, Kymi) is a Finland, Finnish shooting sports, sport shooter. He won the silver medal in Shooting at the 2000 Summer Olympics, men's 50 metre rifle three positions at the 2000 Summer Olympics ...

(shooting), and

Hannu Manninen Hannu Kalevi Manninen (born 17 April 1978 in Rovaniemi) is a Finnish nordic combined athlete. Debuting at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer at the age of 15, he took his first medal three years later at the age of 18 when he won silver in ...

(nordic combined).

Cross-country skiing results

All results are sourced from the International Ski Federation (FIS).

Olympic Games

* 7 medals – (3 gold, 4 bronze)

World Championships

* 8 medals – (3 gold, 5 silver)

World Cup

Season titles

* 2 titles – (2 overall)

Season standings

Individual podiums

* 11 victories * 27 podiums

Team podiums

* 1 victory * 8 podiums Note: Until the 1999 World Championships and the

1994 Olympics The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games ( no, De 17. olympiske vinterleker; nn, Dei 17. olympiske vinterleikane) and commonly known as Lillehammer '94, was an international winter multi-sport event held fro ...

, World Championship and Olympic races were included in the World Cup scoring system.

References

Holmenkollen medalists
- click Holmenkollmedaljen for downloadable pdf file
Holmenkollen winners since 1892
- click Vinnere for downloadable pdf file

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kirvesniemi, Marja-Liisa 1955 births Living people People from Rautjärvi Cross-country skiers at the 1976 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiers at the 1980 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiers at the 1984 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiers at the 1988 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiers at the 1992 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiers at the 1994 Winter Olympics Finnish female cross-country skiers Holmenkollen medalists Holmenkollen Ski Festival winners Olympic gold medalists for Finland Olympic bronze medalists for Finland Olympic cross-country skiers of Finland Olympic medalists in cross-country skiing FIS Nordic World Ski Championships medalists in cross-country skiing FIS Cross-Country World Cup champions Medalists at the 1984 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1988 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1994 Winter Olympics Sportspeople from South Karelia 20th-century Finnish women