Kristen Skjeldal is an Olympic champion and cross-country skier from Norway. He has won three olympic medals: two gold and one bronze. He won his first gold medal in the 4 × 10 km relay at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville. He finished fourth in 30 km freestyle event at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, but was awarded the bronze medal upon Spain's Johann Mühlegg EPO-doping disqualification. Subsequently, devices for blood doping were found at the hotel room of the doctor for the Austrian cross-country team. Since Skjeldal won the bronze behind two Austrians, many regard him as the real olympic champion. Skjeldal also won a gold medal in 4 × 10 km relay at those same games.
Frode Estil is a retired Norwegian cross-country skier. He lives in Meråker with his wife Grete whom he married in the summer of 2001. They have two sons, Bernhard, born in August 2002, and Konrad. Estil was classical specialist and also a specialist at succeeding in World Championships and Olympics. While Estil only won four World Cup races, he won one individual Olympic Gold and one individual World Championship gold. In addition, he won three team events in the World Championships and another team gold in the Olympics.
Larisa Yevgenyevna Lazutina is a Soviet-Russian former professional cross-country skier.
Olga Valeryevna Danilova is a Russian cross-country skier who competed from 1991 until she was banned for using performance-enhancing drugs in 2002.
Harri Tapani Kirvesniemi is a Finnish former cross-country skier who competed from 1980 to 2001. During his career he won six Olympic medals, and also the 50 km event at the Holmenkollen ski festival in 2000. He retired after being caught doping at the 2001 World Championship in Lahti.
Evi Sachenbacher-Stehle is a retired German cross-country skier and biathlete from Reit im Winkl who has competed since 1998. She was born in Traunstein, West Germany. Competing in three Winter Olympics, she won five medals with two golds and three silvers.
Juha Iisakki Mieto is a Finnish former cross-country skier, who was born in Kurikka. He competed in the 1972, 1976, 1980 and 1984 Olympics and won five medals, including a gold medal in the 4 × 10 km relay in 1976. He also placed fourth three times, losing the 15 km bronze medal in 1972 by 0.06 seconds. He finished second in this event in 1980 in the closest-ever margin of victory in Olympic cross-country skiing, 0.01 seconds, which led the International Ski Federation (FIS) to round all of their times to the nearest 1/10 second in future competitions. Mieto was selected as the Finnish flag bearer at the 1972 Winter Olympics.
Mika Kristian Myllylä was a Finnish cross-country skier who competed from 1992 to 2005. He won six medals at the Winter Olympics, earning one gold, one silver, and four bronzes.
Christian Hoffmann is an Austrian former cross-country skier who began competing in 1994. He won the bronze medal in the 50 km at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano. Four years later at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Hoffmann finished second in the 30 km freestyle mass start event to Spain's Johann Mühlegg, but was awarded the gold medal in 2004 upon Mühlegg's blood-doping disqualification of darbepoetin.
Mikhail Petrovich Ivanov ; born 20 November 1977 in Ostrov, Soviet Union) is a Russian cross-country skier who competed from 1996 to 2007. He finished second in the 50 km at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City to Spain's Johann Mühlegg, but was awarded the gold medal upon Mühlegg's blood-doping disqualification of darbepoetin alfa.
Jari Olavi Isometsä is a Finnish former cross-country skier who competed from 1990 to 2006. He won three bronze medals in the 4 × 10 km relay at the Winter Olympics.
Virpi Katriina Sarasvuo is a Finnish former cross-country skier who competed from 1995 to 2010. She won a bronze medal in the team sprint event at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin and earned her best individual finish of fifth in the individual sprint event in those same games. Four years later in Vancouver, Kuitunen won another bronze, this time in the 4 × 5 km relay.
The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2001 took place February 15–25, 2001 in Lahti, Finland for a record sixth time, previous events being held in 1926, 1938, 1958, 1978 and 1989. These championships also saw the most event changes since the 1950s with the 5 km women and 10 km men's events being discontinued, the 10 km women and 15 km men's events return to their normal status for the first time since the 1991 championships, the debut of a combined pursuit as a separate category, the addition of the individual sprint race for both genders, and the debut of the ski jumping team normal hill event. Extremely cold weather cancelled the women's 30 km event. The biggest controversy occurred when a doping scandal hit the host nation of Finland, resulting in six disqualifications. This would serve as a prelude to further doping cases in cross country skiing at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City the following year.
Kaisa Varis is a Finnish retired cross-country skier and biathlete. Her career has been marred by doping convictions: as a cross-country skier, she was involved but not suspended in a doping scandal and in 2003 she was suspended two years for doping use. After her suspension, she returned as a biathlete in 2007, but in 2008 she received a lifetime ban from all International Biathlon Union (IBU) competitions after another positive doping test. However, her lifetime ban was overturned in March 2009 because the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that the IBU failed to adhere to correct testing procedures; she remains eligible to compete in biathlon.
Milla Saari is a Finnish former cross-country skier who competed from 1994 to 2007. She was best known for her doping role in the 2001 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships doping scandal that would affect five other Finnish skiers for taking hydroxyethyl starch (HES), a blood plasma expander. Saari, then Jauho, was part of the 4 × 5 km relay team that finished second, but would be disqualified for her blood doping and would receive a two-year suspension from the FIS as a result. She also finished sixth in the 15 km event at those same championships.
Alexander Gennadiyevich Legkov is a retired Russian cross-country skier who competed internationally between 2002 and 2017. He has five individual World Cup victories including one Tour de Ski title, as well as gold and silver medals at the 2014 Winter Olympics.
Therese Johaug is a former Norwegian cross-country skier from the village of Dalsbygda in Os municipality who has competed for the clubs Tynset IF and IL Nansen. In World Ski Championships she has won ten individual gold medals along with four gold medals in relays, and she is a four-time Olympic gold medallist.
Sergey Yuryevich Shiryayev is a Russian cross-country skier who competed between 2002 and 2015. His best finish at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships was 11th in the 15 km event at the 2007 event in Sapporo, but that result was declared null and void upon announcing Shiryayev's disqualification for doping on EPO at the last day of the championships on 4 March 2007. His case was heard at the FIS Council meeting in Portorož, Slovenia in May 2007, resulting in a two-year suspension from the sport. Two other coaches also received sanctions from the Russian Ski Federation.
Maxim Mikhailovich Vylegzhanin is a Russian former cross country skier and a three-time Olympic silver medalist at the 2014 Sochi Olympics in 50 km freestyle, 4 × 10 km relay and team sprint. He was stripped of his 2014 Olympic medals by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on 9 November 2017, however on 1 February 2018, his results were restored as a result of the successful appeal.
Alexey Yurevich Poltoranin is a Kazakh cross-country skier who has competed at the international senior level since 2004. He has three World Cup wins, one in 2010 and two in 2013. In the 2013 World Championship in Val di Fiemme he won two bronze medals. Most of his best results are in the classic technique.
Finland 
