FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2001
| File:FIS Nordic WSC 2001 poster.jpg 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 |
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.
Men's cross-country
1 km individual sprint
February 21. 2001
| Medal | Athlete | Time |
| Gold | File:Flag of Norway.svg Tor Arne Hetland (NOR) | 3.14.1 |
| Silver | File:Flag of Italy.svg Cristian Zorzi (ITA) | 3.14.9 |
| Bronze | File:Flag of Norway.svg Håvard Solbakken (NOR) | 3.15.6 |
15 km classical
February 15, 2001
| Medal | Athlete | Time |
| Gold | File:Flag of Sweden.svg Per Elofsson (SWE) | 39:26.0 |
| Silver | File:Flag of Sweden.svg Mathias Fredriksson (SWE) | 39:42.5 |
| Bronze | File:Flag of Norway.svg Odd-Bjørn Hjelmeset (NOR) | 39:49.3 |
Finnish skier Jari Isometsä finished fourth, but was disqualified for using plasma expanders.
10 km + 10 km combined pursuit
February 17, 2001
| Medal | Athlete | Time |
| Gold | File:Flag of Sweden.svg Per Elofsson (SWE) | 47:15.5 |
| Silver | File:Flag of Spain.svg Johann Mühlegg (ESP) | 47:42.0 |
| Bronze | File:Flag of Russia.svg Vitaly Denisov (RUS) | 47:49.5 |
Finland's Jari Isometsä finished second, but was disqualified for using of plasma expanders.
30 km classical
February 19, 2001
| Medal | Athlete | Time |
| Gold | File:Flag of Estonia.svg Andrus Veerpalu (EST) | 1:14:17.9 |
| Silver | File:Flag of Norway.svg Frode Estil (NOR) | 1:14:18.1 |
| Bronze | File:Flag of Russia.svg Mikhail Ivanov (RUS) | 1:14:49.1 |
50 km freestyle
February 25, 2001
| Medal | Athlete | Time |
| Gold | File:Flag of Spain.svg Johann Mühlegg (ESP) | 2:05:27.2 |
| Silver | File:Flag of Germany.svg René Sommerfeldt (GER) | 2:07:23.4 |
| Bronze | File:Flag of Russia.svg Sergey Kriyanin (RUS) | 2:07:28.4 |
4 × 10 km relay
February 22, 2001
| Medal | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | File:Flag of Norway.svg Norway (Frode Estil, Odd-Bjørn Hjelmeset, Thomas Alsgaard, Tor Arne Hetland) | 1:36:42.5 |
| Silver | File:Flag of Sweden.svg Sweden (Urban Lindgren, Mathias Fredriksson, Magnus Ingesson, Per Elofsson) | 1:37:25.2 |
| Bronze | File:Flag of Germany.svg Germany (Jens Filbrich, Andreas Schlütter, Ron Spanuth, René Sommerfeldt) | 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
1 km individual sprint
February 21, 2001
| Medal | Athlete | Time |
| Gold | File:Flag of Finland.svg Pirjo Manninen (FIN) | 3.41.5 |
| Silver | File:Flag of Finland.svg Kati Sundqvist (FIN) | 3.43.1 |
| Bronze | File:Flag of Russia.svg Yuliya Chepalova (RUS) | 3.43.5 |
10 km classical
February 20, 2001
| Medal | Athlete | Time |
| Gold | File:Flag of Norway.svg Bente Skari (NOR) | 26:55.5 |
| Silver | File:Flag of Russia.svg Olga Danilova (RUS) | 27:08.4 |
| Bronze | File:Flag of Russia.svg Larisa Lazutina (RUS) | 27:27.0 |
5 km + 5 km combined pursuit
February 18, 2001
| Medal | Athlete | Time |
| Gold | File:Flag of Finland.svg Virpi Kuitunen (FIN) | 28:06.1 |
| Silver | File:Flag of Russia.svg Larisa Lazutina (RUS) | 28:08.9 |
| Bronze | File:Flag of Russia.svg Olga Danilova (RUS) | 28:09.3 |
15 km classical
February 15, 2001
| Medal | Athlete | Time |
| Gold | File:Flag of Norway.svg Bente Skari (NOR) | 43:54.8 |
| Silver | File:Flag of Russia.svg Olga Danilova (RUS) | 44:02.5 |
| Bronze | File:Flag of Finland.svg Kaisa Varis (FIN) | 44:57.5 |
4 × 5 km relay
February 23, 2001
| Medal | Athlete | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | File:Flag of Russia.svg Russia (Olga Danilova, Larisa Lazutina, Yuliya Chepalova, Nina Gavrylyuk) | 53:01.6 |
| Silver | File:Flag of Norway.svg Norway (Anita Moen, Bente Skari, Elin Nilsen, Hilde Gjermundshaug Pedersen) | 54:01.9 |
| Bronze | File:Flag of Italy.svg Italy (Gabriella Paruzzi, Sabina Valbusa, Stefania Belmondo, Cristina Paluselli) | 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
7.5 km sprint
February 24, 2001
| Medal | Athlete | Time |
| Gold | File:Flag of Germany.svg Marco Baacke (GER) | 19:45.3 |
| Silver | File:Flag of Finland.svg Samppa Lajunen (FIN) | + 6.2 |
| Bronze | File:Flag of Germany.svg Ronny Ackermann (GER) | + 9.7 |
15 km Individual Gundersen
February 15, 2001
| Medal | Athlete | Time |
| Gold | File:Flag of Norway.svg Bjarte Engen Vik (NOR) | 39:26.7 |
| Silver | File:Flag of Finland.svg Samppa Lajunen (FIN) | 40:31.3 |
| Bronze | File:Flag of Austria.svg Felix Gottwald (AUT) | 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
February 20, 2001
| Medal | Athlete | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | File:Flag of Norway.svg Norway (Kenneth Bråten, Sverre Rotevatn, Bjarte Engen Vik, Kristian Hammer) | 50:14.1 |
| Silver | File:Flag of Austria.svg Austria (Christoph Eugen, Mario Stecher, David Kreiner, Felix Gottwald) | + 10.9 |
| Bronze | File:Flag of Finland.svg Finland (Jari Mantila, Hannu Manninen, Jaakko Tallus, Samppa Lajunen) | + 29.4 |
Men's ski jumping
Individual normal hill
February 23, 2001
| Medal | Athlete | Points |
| Gold | File:Flag of Poland.svg Adam Małysz (POL) | 246.0 |
| Silver | File:Flag of Germany.svg Martin Schmitt (GER) | 233.0 |
| Bronze | File:Flag of Austria.svg Martin Höllwarth (AUT) | 223.0 |
Individual large hill
February 19, 2001
| Medal | Athlete | Points |
| Gold | File:Flag of Germany.svg Martin Schmitt (GER) | 276.3 |
| Silver | File:Flag of Poland.svg Adam Małysz (POL) | 273.5 |
| Bronze | File:Flag of Finland.svg Janne Ahonen (FIN) | 267.4 |
Team normal hill
February 25, 2001
| Medal | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | File:Flag of Austria.svg Austria (Wolfgang Loitzl, Andreas Goldberger, Stefan Horngacher, Martin Höllwarth) | 953.5 |
| Silver | File:Flag of Finland.svg Finland (Matti Hautamäki, Risto Jussilainen, Ville Kantee, Janne Ahonen) | 951.5 |
| Bronze | File:Flag of Germany.svg Germany (Sven Hannawald, Michael Uhrmann, Alexander Herr, Martin Schmitt) | 911.5 |
Team large hill
February 21, 2001
| Medal | Athlete | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | File:Flag of Germany.svg Germany (Sven Hannawald, Michael Uhrmann, Alexander Herr, Martin Schmitt) | 939.8 |
| Silver | File:Flag of Finland.svg Finland (Risto Jussilainen, Jani Soininen, Ville Kantee, Janne Ahonen) | 900.2 |
| Bronze | File:Flag of Austria.svg Austria (Andreas Goldberger, Wolfgang Loitzl, Martin Höllwarth, Stefan Horngacher) | 880.2 |
Doping controversy
The 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
Medal winners by nation.
* Host nation (Finland)
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | File:Flag of Norway.svg Norway (NOR) | 6 | 2 | 2 | 10 |
| 2 | File:Flag of Germany.svg Germany (GER) | 3 | 2 | 3 | 8 |
| 3 | File:Flag of Finland.svg Finland (FIN)* | 2 | 5 | 3 | 10 |
| 4 | File:Flag of Sweden.svg Sweden (SWE) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| 5 | File:Flag of Russia.svg Russia (RUS) | 1 | 3 | 6 | 10 |
| 6 | File:Flag of Austria.svg Austria (AUT) | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| 7 | File:Flag of Poland.svg Poland (POL) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| File:Flag of Spain.svg Spain (ESP) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
| 9 | File:Flag of Estonia.svg Estonia (EST) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 10 | File:Flag of Italy.svg Italy (ITA) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Totals (10 entries) | 18 | 18 | 18 | 54 | |
References
- ↑ 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.
- FIS 2001 Cross country results
- FIS 2001 Nordic combined results
- FIS 2001 Ski jumping results
- March 14, 2003 announcement of Finnish skier Kaisa Varis's drug test failure. Details on 2001 skiers.
External links
File:Commons-logo.svg Media related to FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2001 at Wikimedia Commons
