Marja-Liisa Kirvesniemi

Marja-Liisa Kirvesniemi
nation	Finland
birthday	10th September 1955 (age 64)
place of birth	Simpele , Finland
Career
status	resigned
Medal table
Olympic medals 3 × 0 × 4 × World Cup medals 3 × 5 × 0 ×
winter Olympics gold 1984 Sarajevo 5 km gold 1984 Sarajevo 10 km gold 1984 Sarajevo 20 km bronze 1984 Sarajevo Season bronze 1988 Calgary Season bronze 1994 Lillehammer 5 km bronze 1994 Lillehammer 30 km  Nordic World Ski Championships gold 1978 Lahti Season silver 1985 Seefeld 5 km silver 1985 Seefeld 10 km gold 1989 Lahti 10 km gold 1989 Lahti Season silver 1989 Lahti 15 km silver 1991 Val di Fiemme 5 km silver 1993 Falun 15 km
Placements in the cross-country skiing world cup
Debut in the World Cup March 6, 1982  World Cup victories in individual 11 ( details )  Overall World Cup 1. (1982/83, 1983/84)
Podium placements 1. 2. 3.  Distance races 11 10 4th

Marja-Liisa Kirvesniemi b. Hämäläinen (born September 10, 1955 in Simpele ) is a former Finnish cross-country skier . She is married to Harri Kirvesniemi .

Career

At the 1984 Olympic Games in Sarajevo , she won all three gold medals in the individual disciplines, over 5 km, over 10 km and over 20 km. In addition, she took third place with the Finnish relay. In the same year she was named Europe's Sportswoman of the Year . She also won the bronze medal in the season in Calgary in 1988 . She won two more Olympic medals in 1994 in Lillehammer , where she finished third both over 5 km and over 30 km.

She was also very successful at world championships. She won her first title in Lahti in 1978 with the Finnish relay. In 1985 she won the silver medal over 10 km. In 1989 she became world champion over this distance. In the same year she was also world champion in the relay over 4 × 5 km and vice world champion over 15 km. She was able to win further silver medals at the world championships in 1991 in the 5 km race and in 1993 in the 15 km race.

Marja-Liisa Kirvesniemi is one of the few athletes who have participated in six Winter Olympics. In 1989 she was honored with the Holmenkollen Medal (her husband received it nine years later).

successes

winter Olympics

• 1984 in Sarajevo : gold over 5 km, gold over 10 km, gold over 20 km, bronze with the relay
• 1988 in Calgary : Bronze with the relay
• 1994 in Lillehammer : bronze over 5 km, bronze over 30 km

World championships

• 1978 in Lahti : Gold with the relay
• 1985 in Seefeld : silver over 5 km, silver over 10 km
• 1989 in Lahti : gold over 10 km, gold with the relay, silver over 15 km
• 1991 in Val di Fiemme : Silver over 5 km
• 1993 in Falun : Silver over 15 km

World Cup victories in individual

No.	date	place	discipline
1.	March 5, 1983	Lahti	5 km
2.	March 20, 1983	Anchorage	10 km
3.	March 27, 1983	Labrador City	10 km
4th	17th December 1983	Autrans	10 km
5.	February 9, 1984	Sarajevo	20 km classic 1
6th	February 12, 1984	Sarajevo	5 km freestyle 1
7th	February 18, 1984	Sarajevo	10 km classic 1
8th.	December 19, 1987	Reit im Winkl	5 km freestyle
9.	February 7, 1989	Lahti	10 km classic 2
10.	March 4th 1989	Oslo	10 km +10 km pursuit
11.	March 7, 1992	Funäsdalen	5 km classic

¹ 1984 Winter Olympics

² Nordic World Ski Championships 1989

World Cup overall placements

season	space	Points
1981/82	18th	36
1982/83	1.	144
1983/84	1.	134
1984/85	10.	80
1985/86	-	-
1986/87	-	-
1987/88	3.	82
1988/89	6th	87
1989/90	-	-
1990/91	17th	24
1991/92	10.	50
1992/93	8th.	286
1993/94	10.	264

Web links

• Marja-Liisa Kirvesniemi in the database of the International Ski Federation (English)
• Marja-Liisa Kirvesniemi in the database of Sports-Reference (English; archived from the original )