- Eero Mäntyranta
Eero Antero Mäntyranta (born
November 20 1937 inTurtola (cur.Pello )) is a former Finnish skier and multiple Olympic Champion. With his seven medals from fourWinter Olympics , he is one of the most successful skiers Finland has ever produced.His extraordinary success at the
1964 Winter Olympics earned him the nickname "Mister Seefeld", referring to the venue where the cross country skiing andbiathlon competitions took place.The Finnish Ministry of Education endowed him with the Pro Urheilu letter of recognition in 2000. There is also a museum centered on Eero Mäntyranta in Pello.
He is the first Finnish sportsman to have tested positive for doping. At the 1972 national championships, his tests showed use of
amphetamine , but the result was hushed up. After the Sapporo Winter Olympics, the fact came to light but was and has been denied by Mäntyranta. Later Mäntyranta has admitted to using hormones, which during his sports career were not yet prohibited. Mäntyranta has naturally aberrant high blood hemoglobin due to a mutation in theerythropoietin receptor (EPOR) gene, which was identified following aDNA study done on over 200 members of his family, as reported in 1993. [de la Chapelle A, Traskelin AL, Juvonen E. (1993). "Truncated erythropoietin receptor causes dominantly inherited benign human erythrocytosis." "Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A". 90(10):4495-9.]Accomplishments
* three Olympic gold medals: Squaw Valley 1960 (4 x 10 km Relay) and Innsbruck 1964 (18 km and 30 km)
* two Olympic silver medals: Innsbruck 1964 (relay) and Grenoble 1968 (15 km)
* two Olympic bronze medals: Grenoble 1968 (30 km and relay)
* two World Championships gold medals: Zakopane 1962 (30 km) and Oslo 1966 (30 km), two silver: 1962 (relay) and 1966 (relay), one bronze: 1966 (50 km)
* National domestic championships: five gold, two silver and two bronze
*Holmenkollen ski festival championships first place 1962, 1964 and 1968 (15 km)
*Holmenkollen medal in 1964 (Shared withVeikko Kankkonen ,Georg Thoma , andHalvor Næs .).
*Salpausselkä games win 1964 an 1972.Mäntyranta also finished 19th the 30 km event at the
1972 Winter Olympics inSapporo .References
*FIS|S=CC|ID=37470|name=Eero Maentyranta
* [http://www.skiforeningen.no/holmenkollen/holmenkollen_historikk Holmenkollen medalists] - click Holmenkollmedaljen for downloadable pdf file no icon
* [http://www.skiforeningen.no/holmenkollen/holmenkollen_historikk Holmenkollen winners since 1892] - click Vinnere for downloadable pdf file no icon
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
