Eero Mäntyranta

Updated：2008-07-08 11:16 | Source：beijing2008.cn

　　Grenoble 7 February 1968, X Olympic Winter Games. Men‘s cross country skiing, 30 km in Autrans. Eero M?NTYRANTA of Finland, 3rd, performs. Credit: IOC Olympic Museum Collections

　　Born: 20 November 1937

　　Birthplace: Pello (Finland)

　　Nationality: Finland

　　Sport: Skiing

　　ATTENDANCE AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES

　　Squaw Valley 1960

　　Innsbruck 1964

　　Grenoble 1968

　　Sapporo 1972

　　AWARDS

　　Olympic medals:

　　Gold: 3

　　Silver: 2

　　Bronze: 2

　　Other results:

　　World Championships

　　Gold : 2 (62, 66)

　　Silver : 2 (62, 66)

　　Bronze : 1 (66)

　　Naturally Rich Blood

　　Eero M?ntyranta earned his first gold medal in 1960 in Squaw Valleyas a member of Finland‘s 4x10km relay team. At the 1964 Innsbruck Games, M?ntyranta added two more gold medals, winning the 30km race by 71.6 seconds and the 15km by 40.7 seconds. He also gained a silver medal in the relay. In 1968, M?ntyranta won a bronze medal at 30km and a silver at 15km, missing a gold in the latter race by less than two seconds. In the relay M?ntyranta skied the anchor leg for Finland. He managed to gain 26 seconds on Vyacheslav Vedenine of the USSR and passed him at the finish line to earn a final bronze medal. Throughout his career, M?ntyranta was suspected of blood doping because his red blood count was 20% higher than that of other athletes. Thirty years later, scientists tested 200 members of his family and discovered that fifty of them, including M?ntyranta, were born with a rare genetic mutation that causes an increase in oxygen-rich red blood cells.

Editor : LiuAnqi