Eero Mäntyranta

Eero Antero Mäntyranta (20 November 1937 – 29 December 2013) was a Finnish skier and multiple Olympic champion. He competed in four Winter Olympics (1960–1972) winning seven medals at three of them, making him one of the most successful skiers Finland has ever produced. His success 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. 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.

Genetics

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. 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.

Fiemme Valley

Fiemme Valley (Italian: Val di Fiemme, German: Fleimstal) is a valley in the Trentino province, i.e. the southern half of the Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol region, in northern Italy, located in the Dolomites mountain region.

History

In Classical Antiquity, the valley was part of the Cisalpine Gaul province of the Roman Empire. Since the 11th century and until 1803, Fiemme Valley belonged to the county of Trent, part of the Bishopric of Trent within the Holy Roman Empire. After the treaty of Luneville, under the name "Welschtirol" (i.e. Italian-Ladin speaking Tyrol) it became part of the county of Tyrol under the Austrian Empire.

In 1920 with the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye at the end of the first World War it was annexed to the kingdom of Italy.

Municipalities

The following comuni are located in Fiemme Valley:

The valley composes the Avisio's river basin together with Fascia Valley and Val di Cembra.

Sixten Jernberg

Edy Sixten Jernberg (6 February 1929 – 14 July 2012) was a Swedish cross-country skier and one of the most successful cross-country skiers of all time. Between 1952 and 1964 he took part in 363 ski races, finishing within the podium in 263 and winning 134 of them; during this period he won four world titles and nine Olympic medals. In 12 starts over three consecutive Winter Games he never finished worse than fifth place, and between 1955 and 1960, he won 86 out of 161 competitions.

Jernberg was a blacksmith and a lumberjack before beginning his career as a cross-country skier. He specialized in the longer distances, with four of his eight gold medals coming over 50 km, one over 30 km and three in 4×10 km. He also won Vasaloppet twice, 1955 and 1960. He won the 15 km at the Holmenkollen ski festival in 1954.

At one competition, Jernberg had a fever and coughed up blood, but still finished the 50 km event.Gunde Svan said: "It was almost like [Sixten] didn't like his own body and tried to punish it in different ways."

World championship

A world championship is generally an international sports competition open to elite competitors from across the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport or contest.

The title is usually awarded through a combination of specific contests or, less commonly, ranking systems (e.g. the ICC Test Championship), or a combination of the two (e.g. World Triathlon Championships in Triathlon). This determines a 'world champion', who or which is commonly considered the best nation, team, individual (or other entity) in the world in a particular field, although the vagaries of sport ensure that the competitor recognised at the best in an event is not always the 'world champion' (see Underdog).

Certain sports do not have a world championship, instead they may organise a world cup competition, or they may organize both. Often, the use of the term cup or championship in this sense is just a choice of words. Some sports have multiple champions because of multiple organizations such as mixed martial arts, boxing and wrestling.

Harald Grønningen

Harald Grønningen (born 9 October 1934 in Lensvik) is a former Norwegian cross country skier who competed during the 1960s, earning five winter olympic and two world championship medals. He also won nine Norwegian championship titles and received the King's cup in 1963 and 1967. Grønningen won the 15 km twice (1960 and 1961) at the Holmenkollen ski festival and earned the Holmenkollen medal in 1961.

He was also an able long distance runner. His personal best times were 15:03.2 minutes in the 5000 metres, achieved in September 1963 at Trondheim stadion, and 31:04.6 minutes in the 10,000 metres, achieved in September 1961 at the same stadium. He represented the club Lensvik IL.

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