Marja-Liisa Hämäläinen biography
Marja-Liisa Hämäläinen, married title Marja-Liisa Kirvesniemi, (born September 10, 1955, Simpele, Finland), Finnish Nordic skier who was Finland’s foremost feminine competitor within the sport. She captured three Olympic gold medals and a bronze on the 1984 Games in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia (now in Bosnia and Herzegovina). She gained seven Olympic medals between 1984 and 1994.
Tall, with an athletic construct, Hämäläinen was born right into a household of cross-country skiers and, as a younger lady, practiced snowboarding on the hills of her father’s farm. In 1971 she started to ski competitively, and 5 years later she made her first look on the Winter Olympics. Competing in Innsbruck, Austria, she positioned twenty second within the 10-km occasion. After ending no higher than 18th on the 1980 Games in Lake Placid, New York, Hämäläinen contemplated quitting the game; after almost 10 years of competitors, she had by no means gained a world championship. Her fiancé, Olympic skier Harri Kirvesniemi, inspired her to proceed, nonetheless, and in 1983 she captured her first World Cup. She efficiently defended her title the next yr.
Hämäläinen entered the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo as Finland’s prime feminine cross-country skier, having gained the nationwide championships within the 5-, 10-, and 20-km occasions (1983). At Sarajevo she swept the person occasions to turn into the primary Finn in 60 years to win three gold medals. She dominated the sphere in each the 5- and 10-km races. She additionally triumphed within the grueling 20-km occasion, a contest that was newly added for girls that yr, defeating her Soviet rival, Raisa Smetanina, by 41.7 seconds. Hämäläinen, who added a bronze within the 4 × 5-km relay, was probably the most profitable performer at Sarajevo.
Following the 1984 Games, Hämäläinen married Kirvesniemi, who was additionally a medalist at Sarajevo, capturing a bronze within the 15-km occasion. She competed on the 1988 Olympics in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and gained a bronze medal within the 4 × 5-km relay. She didn't medal on the 1992 Olympics in Albertville, France, however she gained two bronze medals (5- and 30-km occasions) on the 1994 Games in Lillehammer, Norway. Outside of cross-country snowboarding, she pursued a profession as a physiotherapist.