A TV series is currently being filmed about the doping scandal revealed at the 2001 World Ski Championships. Screenwriter Riku Suokas wants to understand what drove elite skiing to break the rules.
The extensive use of prohibited doping substances by the Finnish national skiing team was revealed in 2001 at the World Championships in Lahti. Six skiers and four members of the coaching team were banned from competition. For years, Finland lost faith in the purity of sports.
The production company Take Two is currently shooting scenes for the Lahti 2001 television series about the doping scandal.
– We do not blame or judge anyone. We try to look behind the events and understand. It is by no means a simple matter, says Suokas.
The series depicting the doping scandal is fictional, but based on real events that culminated in 2001. Suokas says that the story moves in time before and after the World Cup competitions in Lahti.
Suokas describes his own relationship with the abuses revealed in Lahti in order to burst the bubble.
– I remember how incredulous I felt. I had an idea of \u200b\u200bFinns as a very honest people who compete with honest means. We have tried to look at the events from the perspective of many people and understand. There are many truths here, says Suokas.
\”It’s really tough\”
The skiing doping scandal is an exceptional part of Finnish sports history, and it has also affected the lives of the characters in the series.
– I wasn’t a lover of sports then, but now that I’ve become familiar with the subject, I feel it in my heart, says Kuustonen.
As an actor, Kuustonen approaches his character, a living person, thoughtfully.
– Through the means of art, you can deal with the events of the past and humanize experiences. I bring a face to that tragedy and give it shades that belong to that series of events, says Kuustonen and at the same time emphasizes the fictionality of the series.
– Virpi is a very professional skier. I respect his career. It’s really tough.
Skiing teaches
– There was something in that willpower and passion for skiing and life that echoed in Mika’s journey. It speaks to me, Holopainen says about his relationship with the skiing legend and his role.
Holopainen says that he researched Myllylä for his role by, among other things, visiting the skier’s hometown in Haapajärvi.
And since the focus of the Lahti 2001 series is sports and skiing, the series’ Actors Holopainen and Kuustonen have skied. A lot.
– Skiing teaches the mental landscape, how it feels to be alone. It is not necessarily a sad loneliness, but an expansive silence there in the forest. In that silence, I have had conversations with Mika in my own mind, Holopainen describes.
The skiing parts of the series were filmed in February-March on the slopes of Salpausselkä in Lahti. Next, the production will move to Tampere, where part of the interior scenes will be shot.
The theme of the series is grace
The actors and the main writer consistently refer to \”the events of Lahti\” in their interviews.
The term doping scandal has also been used for the Finnish skiing team’s use of banned substances at the 2001 World Ski Championships. Information about the start of production of the series was reported under the headline \”Old wounds are dug up again\”.
For some Finns, the doping revealed in Lahti is still a painful turning point in history.
– This series is fiction based on true events. Talking about difficult and scary things can create relief and connection with other people. Mercy and forgiveness. The series is hopefully a tool for dealing with issues and understanding people, says actor Johannes Holopainen.
The Lahti 2001 series will be published at the end of 2023 in Sanoma’s Ruutu service.