Eero Mäntyranta

Eero Antero Mäntyranta (20 November 1937 – 29 December 2013[1]) was one of the most successful Finnish cross-country skiers. He competed in four Winter Olympics (1960–1972) winning seven medals at three of them. His performance at the 1964 Winter Olympics earned him the nickname "Mister Seefeld", referring to the venue where the cross-country skiing and biathlon competitions took place.[2] The Finnish Ministry of Education endowed him with the Pro Urheilu letter of recognition in 2000. There is also a museum centered on Mäntyranta in his birthplace of Pello.

Eero Mäntyranta
Mäntyranta at the 1964 Olympics
Full nameEero Antero Mäntyranta
Born(1937-11-20)20 November 1937
Turtola, Lapland, Finland
Died29 December 2013(2013-12-29) (aged 76)
Oulu, Northern Ostrobothnia, Finland
Height170 cm (5 ft 7 in)
Ski clubPellon Ponsi

Genetics and doping

Mäntyranta had primary familial and congenital polycythemia (PFCP) causing an increase in red blood cell mass and hemoglobin due to a mutation in the erythropoietin receptor (EPOR) gene, which was identified following a DNA study done on over 200 members of his family, as reported in 1993.[3] This condition results in an increase of up to 50% in the oxygen carrying capacity of the blood, a large advantage when participating in endurance events.[2][4]

In 1972 Mäntyranta was the first Finnish sportsman who tested positive for doping. He later admitted taking hormones, which was not prohibited in those years.[2]

Cross-country skiing results

All results are sourced from the International Ski Federation (FIS).[5]

Olympic Games
  • 7 medals – (3 gold, 2 silver, 2 bronze)
 Year   Age   15 km  30 km  50 km  4 × 10 km 
 relay 
1960226——Gold
196426GoldGold9Silver
196830SilverBronze15Bronze
197234—19DNF—

World Championships
  • 5 medals – (2 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze)
 Year   Age   15 km  30 km  50 km  4 × 10 km 
 relay 
1962245Gold—Silver
1966286GoldBronzeSilver

Accomplishments
  • 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 with Veikko Kankkonen, Georg Thoma, and Halvor Næs.).
  • Salpausselkä games win 1964 and 1972.

See also
  • Athletes of Finland
  • Olympic Athletes of Finland

References
  1. Skiing legend Eero Mäntyranta dead at 76. yle.fi. 30 December 2013
  2. Eero Mäntyranta Archived 9 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine. sports-reference.com
  3. de la Chapelle. A; Traskelin AL; Juvonen E. (1993). "Truncated erythropoietin receptor causes dominantly inherited benign human erythrocytosis". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 90 (10): 4495–9. doi:10.1073/pnas.90.10.4495. PMC 46538. PMID 8506290.
  4. Interview with Malcolm Gladwell. The Guardian. 29 September 2013
  5. "MAENTYRANTA Eero". FIS-Ski. International Ski Federation. Retrieved 19 January 2020.

Media related to Eero Mäntyranta at Wikimedia Commons

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.