The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2001 took place February 15–25, 2001 in Lahti, Finland for a record sixth time, previous events being held in 1926, 1938, 1958, 1978 and 1989. These championships also saw the most event changes since the 1950s with the 5 km women and 10 km men's events being discontinued, the 10 km women and 15 km men's events return to their normal status for the first time since the 1991 championships, the debut of a combined pursuit as a separate category (5 km + 5 km for women, 10 km + 10 km for men), the addition of the individual sprint race for both genders, and the debut of the ski jumping team normal hill event. Extremely cold weather (−23 °C (−9 °F)) cancelled the women's 30 km event. The biggest controversy occurred when a doping scandal hit the host nation of Finland, resulting in six disqualifications. This would serve as a prelude to further doping cases in cross country skiing at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City the following year.
Official logo for the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2001. | |
| Host city | Lahti, Finland |
|---|---|
| Events | 18 |
| Opening | 15 February 2001 |
| Closing | 25 February 2001 |
| Main venue | Salpausselkä |
| Website | Lahti2001.fi |
Men's cross-country
edit1 km individual sprint
editFebruary 21. 2001
| Medal | Athlete | Time |
| Gold | 3.14.1 | |
| Silver | 3.14.9 | |
| Bronze | 3.15.6 |
15 km classical
editFebruary 15, 2001
| Medal | Athlete | Time |
| Gold | 39:26.0 | |
| Silver | 39:42.5 | |
| Bronze | 39:49.3 |
Finnish skier Jari Isometsä finished fourth, but was disqualified for using plasma expanders.
10 km + 10 km combined pursuit
editFebruary 17, 2001
| Medal | Athlete | Time |
| Gold | 47:15.5 | |
| Silver | 47:42.0 | |
| Bronze | 47:49.5 |
Finland's Jari Isometsä finished second, but was disqualified for using of plasma expanders.
30 km classical
editFebruary 19, 2001
| Medal | Athlete | Time |
| Gold | 1:14:17.9 | |
| Silver | 1:14:18.1 | |
| Bronze | 1:14:49.1 |
50 km freestyle
editFebruary 25, 2001
| Medal | Athlete | Time |
| Gold | 2:05:27.2 | |
| Silver | 2:07:23.4 | |
| Bronze | 2:07:28.4 |
4 × 10 km relay
editFebruary 22, 2001
| Medal | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | 1:36:42.5 | |
| Silver | 1:37:25.2 | |
| Bronze | 1:37:30.5 |
The Finnish team finished first, but was disqualified when Janne Immonen, Mika Myllylä and Harri Kirvesniemi tested positive for doping.
Women's cross-country
edit1 km individual sprint
editFebruary 21, 2001
| Medal | Athlete | Time |
| Gold | 3.41.5 | |
| Silver | 3.43.1 | |
| Bronze | 3.43.5 |
10 km classical
editFebruary 20, 2001
| Medal | Athlete | Time |
| Gold | 26:55.5 | |
| Silver | 27:08.4 | |
| Bronze | 27:27.0 |
5 km + 5 km combined pursuit
editFebruary 18, 2001
| Medal | Athlete | Time |
| Gold | 28:06.1 | |
| Silver | 28:08.9 | |
| Bronze | 28:09.3 |
15 km classical
editFebruary 15, 2001
| Medal | Athlete | Time |
| Gold | 43:54.8 | |
| Silver | 44:02.5 | |
| Bronze | 44:57.5 |
4 × 5 km relay
editFebruary 23, 2001
| Medal | Athlete | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | 53:01.6 | |
| Silver | 54:01.9 | |
| Bronze | 54:23.3 |
The Finnish relay team finished second, but was disqualified when Milla Jauho and Virpi Kuitunen were tested positive for doping.
Men's Nordic combined
edit7.5 km sprint
editFebruary 24, 2001
| Medal | Athlete | Time |
| Gold | 19:45.3 | |
| Silver | + 6.2 | |
| Bronze | + 9.7 |
15 km Individual Gundersen
editFebruary 15, 2001
| Medal | Athlete | Time |
| Gold | 39:26.7 | |
| Silver | 40:31.3 | |
| Bronze | 40:37.0 |
Vik becomes the first repeat world champion in this event since Oddbjørn Hagen did it in 1934 and 1935.
4 × 5 km team
editFebruary 20, 2001
| Medal | Athlete | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | 50:14.1 | |
| Silver | + 10.9 | |
| Bronze | + 29.4 |
Men's ski jumping
editIndividual normal hill
editFebruary 23, 2001
| Medal | Athlete | Points |
| Gold | 246.0 | |
| Silver | 233.0 | |
| Bronze | 223.0 |
Individual large hill
editFebruary 19, 2001
| Medal | Athlete | Points |
| Gold | 276.3 | |
| Silver | 273.5 | |
| Bronze | 267.4 |
Team normal hill
editFebruary 25, 2001
| Medal | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | 953.5 | |
| Silver | 951.5 | |
| Bronze | 911.5 |
Team large hill
editFebruary 21, 2001
| Medal | Athlete | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | 939.8 | |
| Silver | 900.2 | |
| Bronze | 880.2 |
Doping controversy
editThe 2001 Doping Scandal in Lahti (fi) saw six Finnish cross-country skiers testing positive for doping, referred to as the "Lahti Six".[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]
On 18 February, Jari Isometsä tested positive for use of hydroxyethyl starch (HES), a banned blood plasma expander. The test was carried out after the 15 km classical race, before the 10+10 km pursuit where Isometsä placed second. Isometsä admitted to using the HES product Hemohes and was immediately suspended.[9]
The Finnish relay teams won gold in the men's race and silver in the women's race. However, it was revealed on 25 February, the last day of the championships, that Janne Immonen also had tested positive for using HES. This led to the disqualification of the men's relay team (Norway thus won the gold medal). After further testing, four more cross-country skiers provided positive doping tests: Harri Kirvesniemi and Mika Myllylä, Milla Jauho and Virpi Kuitunen. The Finnish women's relay team was thus also disqualified, although Kuitunen was allowed to retain her gold medal in the 5+5 km pursuit. Kirvesniemi retired while the others served two year suspensions. The revelations led to the resignation of the medical staff of the cross-country team, and also the team leadership such as head coach Kari-Pekka Kyrö.
Coinciding with the doping tests, Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat revealed on 26 February that a woman had found a suspicious bag at a petrol station near Helsinki Airport. The bag contained several vials with what was later revealed to be HES-products and other products such as adrenaline and asthma medicines. The incident occurred after the last World Cup races before the championships, held in Otepää in Estonia only a week before the opening.[10]
This incident, along with the doping disqualifications of Olga Danilova, Larisa Lazutina, and Johann Mühlegg at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and Kaisa Varis at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2003 in Val di Fiemme, would force the International Olympic Committee and the International Ski Federation to tighten up their drug testing procedures. Incidentally, all of these skiers took individual medals during the 2001 championships. Varis was also part of the disqualified Finnish women's relay team in 2001, although she retained an individual bronze medal.
Doping concerns were also strongly mentioned at the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin.
Medal table
editMedal winners by nation.
* Host nation (Finland)
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 10 | |
| 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 8 | |
| 3 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 10 | |
| 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | |
| 5 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 10 | |
| 6 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | |
| 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 10 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Totals (10 entries) | 18 | 18 | 18 | 54 | |
References
edit- ^ Amplified Content, LLC. "AXCS: Cross Country Skiing at". Xcskiworld.com. Archived from the original on February 5, 2012. Retrieved December 4, 2011.
- ^ Amplified Content, LLC. "AXCS: Cross Country Skiing at". Xcskiworld.com. Archived from the original on February 5, 2012. Retrieved December 4, 2011.
- ^ "I am looking for new challenges". Cirkus.ee. March 1, 2001. Retrieved December 4, 2011.
- ^ "Doping Disaster for Finnish Ski Team". Sportsci.org. Retrieved December 4, 2011.
- ^ "HS Sport 21.11.2003 – Former skiing head coach to be charged with smuggling and fraud". .hs.fi. Archived from the original on September 26, 2011. Retrieved December 4, 2011.
- ^ FasterSkier.com Archived September 2, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Ski County USA . org Archived September 29, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Amplified Content, LLC (February 24, 2002). "AXCS: Cross Country Skiing at". Xcskiworld.com. Archived from the original on February 5, 2012. Retrieved December 4, 2011.
- ^ "Den hemmelige saunakontrakten som skulle skjule finsk doping". January 2, 2017.
- ^ "Dopingveske kan avsløre skandalen". VG. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
External links
edit Media related to FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2001 at Wikimedia Commons