Career
He competed in four Winter Olympics (1960–1972) winning seven medals at three of them. His performance 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.
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. In 1972 Mäntyranta was the first Finnish sportsman who tested positive for doping.
He later admitted taking hormones, which was not prohibited in those years. three Olympic gold medals: Squaw Valley 1960 (4×10 km relay) and Innsbruck 1964 (15 km and 30 km) two Olympic silver medals: Innsbruck 1964 (relay) and Grenoble 1968 (15 km) two Olympic bronze medals: Grenoble 1968 (30 km and relay) two World Championships gold medals: Zakopane 1962 (30 km) and Oslo 1966 (30 km), two silver: 1962 (relay) and 1966 (relay), one bronze: 1966 (50 km) National domestic championships: five gold, two silver and two bronze Holmenkollen ski festival championships first place 1962, 1964 and 1968 (15 km) in 1964 (Shared with Veikko Kankkonen, Georg Thoma, and Halvor Næs). Mäntyranta also finished 19th in the 30 km event at the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo.