Opening ceremony 15 February Main venue Salpausselkä | Events 18 Closing ceremony 25 February 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.
Contents
- 1 km individual sprint
- 15 km classical
- 10 km 10km combined pursuit
- 30 km classical
- 50 km freestyle
- 4 10 km relay
- 10 km classical
- 5 km 5km combined pursuit
- 4 5 km relay
- 75km sprint
- 15 km Individual Gundersen
- 4 5 km team
- Individual normal hill
- Individual large hill
- Team normal hill
- Team large hill
- Doping controversy
- Medal table
- References
1 km individual sprint
February 21. 2001
15 km classical
February 15, 2001
Finnish skier Jari Isometsä finished fourth,but was disqualified for using plasma expanders.
10 km + 10 km combined pursuit
February 17, 2001
Finland's Jari Isometsä finished second, but was disqualified for using of plasma expanders.
30 km classical
February 19, 2001
50 km freestyle
February 25, 2001
4 × 10 km relay
February 22, 2001
The Finnish team finished first, but was disqualified when Janne Immonen,Mika Myllylä and Harri Kirvesniemi tested positive for doping.
1 km individual sprint
February 21, 2001
10 km classical
February 20, 2001
5 km + 5 km combined pursuit
February 18, 2001
15 km classical
February 15, 2001
4 × 5 km relay
February 23, 2001
The Finnish relay team finished second, but was disqualified when Milla Jauho and Virpi Kuitunen were tested positive for doping.
7.5 km sprint
February 24, 2001
15 km Individual Gundersen
February 15, 2001
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
Individual normal hill
February 23, 2001
Individual large hill
February 19, 2001
Team normal hill
February 25, 2001
Team large hill
February 21, 2001
Doping controversy
The 2001 Doping Scandal in Lahti (sv) saw six Finnish skiers testing positive for doping, referred to as the "Lahti Six". On 18 February Jari Isometsä admitted doping; positive doping substances of the others, were revealed days later. The three other men involved were Janne Immonen, Harri Kirvesniemi and Mika Myllylä and two women, Milla Jauho and Virpi Kuitunen. All six tested positive for hydroxyethyl starch, a banned blood plasma expander. Kirvesniemi retired while the others served two year suspensions.
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. 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.