When Finnish Ski Team Caught Playing Dirty, What's Left Behind Is 'Dirty Snow'

The 2001 World Ski Championships in Lahti were supposed to be a triumph for Finland. Skiing is the country’s national sport: hosting the World Championships on home turf should have been the perfect opportunity for athletes to showcase their talents to the world. But a doping scandal led to six cross-country skiers and four members of the coaching staff being banned from competing. How did it all go so wrong? Dirty snow has the answers.

Sports journalist Eero Järvinen (Mikko Leppilampi) knows the ski world well. He was once a top skier himself. He knows the athletes, their support teams and the world they operate in. So when a mysterious source (Sanna-Kaisa Palo) tells him that a well-organized doping system is at work within the Finnish ski team, he doesn’t want to believe it. And not only because it would make a bad impression on his Norwegian journalist colleague and love interest Therese Jensen (Veslemøy Mørkrid).

A man and a woman, wearing coats, stand outside in the snow, with snow-covered trees behind them. The corner of a structure, with national flags on poles, can be seen behind them.

Therese Jensen (Veslemøy Mørkrid) and Eero Järvinen (Mikko Leppilampi). Credit: Viaplay

The deeper he digs, the more things pile up. And all the while, the cross-country team works hard to win medals and savor the glory that comes with success on the world stage. Janne Immonen (Kai Vaine) and Mika Myllylä (Johannes Holopainen) are among those savoring the thrill of victory under head coach Kari-Pekka Kyrö (Tobias Zilliacus), unaware that their use of a drug to alter the hemoglobin levels in their blood has already been detected by tests, and their house of cards is about to collapse.

A man leans over and skis down a slope. Behind him, a sign with the words Laiti 2001 can be seen.

Johannes Holopainen as skier Mika Myllylä. Credit: Viaplay

This is perhaps the most amazing thing about Dirty snow The Lahti doping scandal of 2001 is not just a doping scandal in sport: for Finns, it is a national tragedy, a devastating wound that time has failed to heal. It virtually wiped out a generation of Finnish skiers, although for the athletes involved, the ban from competition lasted only two years. Some retired, others attempted a comeback that did not happen. Mika Myllylä, who never returned to the national team, was found dead at his home in 2011 in what was officially described as “an accident.”

Twenty years later, the idea of making a television series about the events that sparked the scandal was still highly controversial in Finland. One of the banned skiers, Jari Isometsä (played by Jon-Jon Geitel in the series), publicly spoke out against the series during production. The producers tried to cast contemporary athletes and coaches during the preparation phase to help with the series’ realism, but were turned down (famous ski coach Reijo Jylhä eventually joined the team to coach some of the actors).

A man in black pants, a blue jacket and a white cap runs along a snowy road, next to a long building.

Jon-Jon Geitel plays skier Jari Isometsä in the series. Credit: Viaplay

Dirty snow This is not a documentary: it is a fictionalized look at real events, using a mix of real (the skiers and their support team) and created (the journalists) characters to examine the doping scandal and its aftermath. As you might expect with such a controversial and hotly debated subject, there are areas where the producers had to choose a version of events to follow, even if that choice was controversial.

One of the most controversial figures involved in the scandal was Norwegian anti-doping supervisor Inggard Lereim (played on the show by Trond Teigen). At the time and since, fans of the Finnish team have claimed that he set up their skiers. Lereim to this day denies the allegations, saying that the decision to test the Finnish team came from the World Anti-Doping Agency and had nothing to do with him. No matter what direction the show took, someone was going to be upset; let’s just say that every drama needs a villain.

A man wearing a blue jacket and a white cap, with an ID card around his neck, stands on a snowy street.

Head coach Kari-Pekka Kyrö, played by Tobias Zilliacus. Credit: Viaplay

Even in such a drama, reality sometimes throws surprises. In the midst of the investigation and doping allegations, a medical kit belonging to a member of the Finnish ski team was found abandoned at a gas station. Nothing serious, except that it contained the medication and equipment used for doping. Head coach Kyrö retrieved it from the police; by then, the team had already returned its medals.

So why did they do it? Dirty snow The series openly discusses the stress and pressures of international sport, the need to succeed that comes from the top and pushes everyone to surpass themselves. The series may date back to 2001, but the issue of doping in sport has not disappeared.

Dirty Snow is now available to stream on SBS On Demand.