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Mika Myllylä

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Mika Myllylä
Mika Myllylä in 2001
Country Finland
Full nameMika Kristian Myllylä
Born(1969-09-12)12 September 1969
Haapajärvi, Finland
Died5 July 2011(2011-07-05) (aged 41)
Kokkola, Finland
Height183 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Ski clubJoutsan Pommi
World Cup career
Seasons12 – (1990–2001)
Starts94
Podiums25
Wins10
Overall titles0 – (2nd in 1997)
Discipline titles1 – (1 LD)
Medal record
Men's cross-country skiing
Representing  Finland
International nordic ski competitions
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Olympic Games 1 1 4
World Championships 4 3 2
Total 5 4 6
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1998 Nagano 30 km classical
Silver medal – second place 1994 Lillehammer 50 km classical
Bronze medal – third place 1994 Lillehammer 30 km freestyle
Bronze medal – third place 1994 Lillehammer 4 × 10 km relay
Bronze medal – third place 1998 Nagano 10 km classical
Bronze medal – third place 1998 Nagano 4 × 10 km relay
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 1997 Trondheim 50 km classical
Gold medal – first place 1999 Ramsau 10 km classical
Gold medal – first place 1999 Ramsau 30 km freestyle
Gold medal – first place 1999 Ramsau 50 km classical
Silver medal – second place 1997 Trondheim 10 km + 15 km combined pursuit
Silver medal – second place 1997 Trondheim 4 × 10 km relay
Silver medal – second place 1999 Ramsau 10 km + 15 km combined pursuit
Bronze medal – third place 1995 Thunder Bay 10 km classical
Bronze medal – third place 1997 Trondheim 10 km classical
Disqualified 2001 Lahti 4 × 10 km relay

Mika Kristian Myllylä (12 September 1969 – 5 July 2011[1]) was a Finnish cross-country skier who competed from 1992 to 2005. He won six medals at the Winter Olympics, earning one gold (1998: 30 km), one silver (1994: 50 km), and four bronzes (1994: 30 km, 4 × 10 km; 1998: 10 km, 4 × 10 km).

Myllylä also won a total of nine medals at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships, winning four golds (1997: 50 km, 1999: 10 km, 30 km, 50 km), three silvers (10 km + 15 km combined pursuit: 1997, 1999; 4 × 10 km relay: 1997), and two bronzes (10 km: 1995, 1997).

He was on his way to become one of the greatest stars in cross-country skiing history, until he was caught doping in the Finnish 2001 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships scandal for taking hydroxyethyl starch (HES), a blood plasma expander usually used to cover up the use of erythropoietin (EPO) in athletes. The scandal also affected five other Finnish skiers, including Jari Isometsä and Harri Kirvesniemi. Myllylä received a two-year suspension from the FIS as a result. In connection with a 2011 court case, Myllylä gave a sworn statement where he admitted using EPO in the 1990s, during his career.[2]

After the suspension Myllylä tried to return to skiing, but failed to come back to the international level despite winning a few Finnish championships. Myllylä retired from the skiing sports in 2005. In the following years he was involved in alcohol-related problems which were extensively covered in Finnish tabloid papers.[3] On 5 July 2011, Myllylä was found dead at his home in Kokkola. The official police investigation concluded that his death was the result of an accident, and ruled out the possibility of foul play and suicide.[4][5]

Cross-country skiing results

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All results are sourced from the International Ski Federation (FIS).[6]

Olympic Games

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  • 6 medals – (1 gold, 1 silver, 4 bronze)
 Year   Age   10 km   Pursuit   30 km   50 km   4 × 10 km 
 relay 
1992 22 14 20 34 — —
1994 24 6 4 Bronze Silver Bronze
1998 28 Bronze 6 Gold — Bronze

World Championships

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  • 9 medals – (4 gold, 3 silver, 2 bronze)
 Year   Age   10 km   15 km   Pursuit   30 km   50 km   Sprint   4 × 10 km 
 relay 
1993 23 17 — 18 23 — — 4
1995 25 Bronze — 4 4 — — —
1997 27 Bronze — Silver 10 Gold — Silver
1999 29 Gold — Silver Gold Gold — 5
2001 31 — DNS DNF — — — DSQ

World Cup

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Season titles

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  • 1 title – (1 Long Distance)
Season
Discipline
1997  Long Distance 

Season standings

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 Season   Age  Overall Long Distance Sprint
1990 20 — — —
1991 21 — — —
1992 22 32 — —
1993 23 34 — —
1994 24 4 — —
1995 25 8 — —
1996 26 14 — —
1997 27 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s) 7
1998 28 7 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 13
1999 29 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 8
2000 30 39 29[a] 26[a] —
2001 31 33 — —
a. 1 29th in the Long Distance World Cup.
    2 26th in the Middle Distance World Cup.

Individual podiums

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  • 10 victories
  • 25 podiums
No. Season Date Location Race Level Place
1 1993–94 9 January 1994 Russia Kavgalovo, Russia 15 km Individual C World Cup 3rd
2 15 January 1994 Norway Oslo, Norway 10 km Individual F World Cup 3rd
3 14 February 1994 Norway Lillehammer, Norway 30 km Individual F Olympic Games[1] 3rd
4 27 February 1994  50 km Individual  C Olympic Games[1] 2nd
5 12 March 1994 Sweden Falun, Sweden 30 km Individual C World Cup 2nd
6 1994–95 11 March 1995 Canada Thunder Bay, Canada 10 km Individual C World Championships[1] 3rd
7 1995–96 16 December 1995 Italy Santa Caterina, Italy 10 km Individual C World Cup 3rd
8 13 January 1996 Czech Republic Nové Město, Czech Republic 15 km Individual C World Cup 3rd
9 1996–97 7 December 1996  Switzerland  Davos, Switzerland 10 km Individual C World Cup 1st
10 4 January 1997 Russia Kavgalovo, Russia 30 km Individual F World Cup 1st
11 19 January 1997 Finland Lahti, Finland 30 km Individual C World Cup 2nd
12 24 February 1997 Norway Trondheim, Norway 10 km Individual C World Championships[1] 3rd
13 25 February 1997 10 km + 15 km Pursuit C/F World Championships[1] 2nd
14 2 March 1997 50 km Individual C World Championships[1] 1st
15 1997–98 3 January 1998 Russia Kavgalovo, Russia 30 km Individual F World Cup 1st
16 8 January 1998 Austria Ramsau, Austria 15 km Individual C World Cup 2nd
17 1998–99 5 January 1999 Estonia Otepää, Estonia 15 km Individual C World Cup 2nd
18 14 February 1999 Austria Seefeld, Austria 10 km Individual F World Cup 1st
19 19 February 1999 Austria Ramsau, Austria 30 km Individual F World Championships[1] 1st
20 22 February 1999 10 km Individual C World Championships[1] 1st
21 23 February 1999 10 km + 15 km Pursuit C/F World Championships[1] 2nd
22 28 February 1999 50 km Individual C World Championships[1] 1st
23 13 March 1999 Sweden Falun, Sweden 30 km Individual C World Cup 3rd
24 1999–2000 2 February 2000 Norway Trondheim, Norway 10 km Individual F World Cup 1st
25 2000–01 20 December 2000  Switzerland  Davos, Switzerland 30 km Individual C World Cup 1st

Team podiums

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  • 6 victories – (6 RL)
  • 15 podiums – (14 RL, 1 TS)
No. Season Date Location Race Level Place Teammate(s)
1  1991–92  28 February 1992 Finland Lahti, Finland 4 × 10 km Relay F World Cup 3rd Hartonen / Räsänen / Isometsä
2  1993–94  22 February 1994 Norway Lillehammer, Norway 4 × 10 km Relay C/F Olympic Games[1] 3rd Kirvesniemi / Räsänen / Isometsä
3  1994–95  18 December 1994 Italy Sappada, Italy 4 × 10 km Relay F World Cup 2nd Repo / Hartonen / Isometsä
4 15 January 1995 Czech Republic Nové Město, Czech Republic 4 × 10 km Relay C World Cup 1st Hietamäki / Isometsä / Kirvesniemi
5 5 February 1995 Sweden Falun, Sweden 4 × 10 km Relay F World Cup 2nd Räsänen / Hartonen / Isometsä
6 1995–96 10 December 1995 Switzerland Davos, Switzerland 4 × 10 km Relay C World Cup 1st Hietamäki / Repo / Isometsä
7 14 January 1996 Czech Republic Nové Město, Czech Republic 4 × 10 km Relay C World Cup 1st Repo / Kirvesniemi / Isometsä
8 3 February 1996 Austria Seefeld, Austria 12 × 1.5 km Team Sprint F World Cup 3rd Isometsä
9 1996–97 24 November 1996 Sweden Kiruna, Sweden 4 × 10 km Relay C World Cup 1st Repo / Kirvesniemi / Isometsä
10 8 December 1996 Switzerland Davos, Switzerland 4 × 10 km Relay C World Cup 1st Isometsä / Repo / Kirvesniemi
11 28 February 1997 Norway Trondheim, Norway 4 × 10 km Relay C/F World Championships[1] 2nd Kirvesniemi / Räsänen / Isometsä
12 1997–98 6 March 1998 Finland Lahti, Finland 4 × 10 km Relay C/F World Cup 1st Kirvesniemi / Repo / Isometsä
13  1998–99  14 March 1999 Sweden Falun, Sweden 4 × 10 km Relay C/F World Cup 2nd Immonen / Kirvesniemi / Repo
14  1999–00  19 December 1999 Switzerland Davos, Switzerland 4 × 10 km Relay C World Cup 2nd Immonen / Kirvesniemi / Isometsä
15  2000–01  26 November 2000 Norway Beitostølen, Norway 4 × 10 km Relay C/F World Cup 2nd Immonen / Kirvesniemi / Repo

Note: 1 Until the 1999 World Championships and the 1994 Olympics, World Championship and Olympic races were included in the World Cup scoring system.

Overall record

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Result Distance Races[a] Sprint Individual
Events 		Team Events All Events
≤ 10 km[b] ≤ 15 km[b] ≤ 30 km[b] ≥ 30 km[b] Pursuit Team Sprint Relay[c]
1st place 4 – 4 2 – – 10 – – 10
2nd place – 2 2 1 2 – 7 – 1 8
3rd place 3 3 2 – – – 8 – 2 10
Podiums 7 5 8 3 2 – 25 – 3 28
Top 10 12 11 16 4 4 – 47 – 3 50
Points 23 23 23 6 6 – 81 – 4 85
Others 1 4 4 1 – – 10 – – 10
Starts 24 27 27 7 6 – 91 – 4 95
a. 1 Classification is made according to FIS classification.
b. 1 2 3 4 Includes individual and mass start races.
c. 1 Incomplete due to lack of appropriate sources prior to 2001.

Note: Until 1999 World Championships and 1994 Olympics, World Championship and Olympic races are part of the World Cup. Hence results from those races are included in the World Cup overall record.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Dennis Hevesi (5 July 2011). "Mika Myllyla, Olympic Skier in Doping Scandal, Dies at 41". The New York Times.
  2. ^ "Myllylä: Kerroin eposta Vähäsöyringille ja Leppävuorelle". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). Sanoma News. 7 June 2011. Retrieved 5 July 2011.
  3. ^ "Poliisi epäilee Mika Myllylää naisten pahoinpitelystä". Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). Sanoma News. 20 January 2010. Archived from the original on March 15, 2012. Retrieved 30 March 2011.
  4. ^ "Mika Myllylä on kuollut". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). Sanoma News. 5 July 2011. Archived from the original on 8 July 2011. Retrieved 5 July 2011.
  5. ^ "Myllylän kuolinsyyntutkinta valmis". YLE (in Finnish). 9 September 2011. Retrieved 30 November 2011.
  6. ^ "MYLLYLAE Mika". FIS-Ski. International Ski Federation. Retrieved 16 January 2020.

Sources

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