2015

Vettenniemi, Erkki

Regardless of the sport’s popularity level, the impact of Lahti on skiing was more pronounced and definitely more abrupt than that of the 1998 Festina affair on cycling. This chapter focuses on Nordic skiing, but there is no intention to imply that cross-country skiers were more inclined to embrace performance-enhancing substance use than other ski athletes — or speed skaters, for that matter. World Anti-Doping Agency insists that current anti-doping rules and regulations protect ‘the spirit of sport’, which, in turn, comprises the ‘intrinsic values’ of sport. For culturally oriented scholars of sport, the emergence of what can perhaps be called the thesis of ‘Scandinavian exceptionalism’ is an invitation to spirited interpretations. The myth of Finland as a pioneer in the saga of blood manipulation in sport ought to be discarded, and the equally misplaced thesis of Scandinavian exceptionalism should no longer enjoy academic credibility.