Hämäläinen, Marja-Liisa

Marja-Liisa Hämäläinen, married name Marja-Liisa Kirvesniemi, (born September 10, 1955, Simpele, Finland), Finnish Nordic skier who was Finland’s foremost female competitor in the sport. She captured three Olympic gold medals and a bronze at the 1984 Games in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia (now in Bosnia and Herzegovina). She won seven Olympic medals between 1984 and 1994.

Tall, with an athletic build, Hämäläinen was born into a family of cross-country skiers and, as a young girl, practiced skiing on the hills of her father’s farm. In 1971 she began to ski competitively, and five years later she made her first appearance at the Winter Olympics. Competing in Innsbruck, Austria, she placed 22nd in the 10-km event. After finishing no better than 18th at the 1980 Games in Lake Placid, New York, Hämäläinen contemplated quitting the sport; after nearly 10 years of competition, she had never won a world championship. Her fiancé, Olympic skier Harri Kirvesniemi, encouraged her to continue, however, and in 1983 she captured her first World Cup. She successfully defended her title the following year.

Hämäläinen entered the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo as Finland’s top female cross-country skier, having won the national championships in the 5-, 10-, and 20-km events (1983). At Sarajevo she swept the individual events to become the first Finn in 60 years to win three gold medals. She dominated the field in both the 5- and 10-km races. She also triumphed in the grueling 20-km event, a contest that was newly added for women that year, defeating her Soviet rival, Raisa Smetanina, by 41.7 seconds. Hämäläinen, who added a bronze in the 4 × 5-km relay, was the most successful performer at Sarajevo.

Following the 1984 Games, Hämäläinen married Kirvesniemi, who was also a medalist at Sarajevo, capturing a bronze in the 15-km event. She competed at the 1988 Olympics in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and won a bronze medal in the 4 × 5-km relay. She failed to medal at the 1992 Olympics in Albertville, France, but she won two bronze medals (5- and 30-km events) at the 1994 Games in Lillehammer, Norway. Outside of cross-country skiing, she pursued a career as a physiotherapist.