Nikita Valeryevich Kryukov (; born 30 May 1985) is a Russian former cross-country skier who competed internationally between 2006 and 2018. He was a sprint specialist who won an Olympic gold medal, three World Championship gold medals, six World cup gold medals (three stage races, three individual World Cups), all in the sprint events. He was arguably the fastest skier ever when it came to double-poling on the flat in sprints. He generally favoured classic skiing and classic sprints over freestyle, but as he showed in winning the team sprint in the 2013 World Championship, in Val di Fiemme, he was also very strong in the freestyle sprint.
Career The highlights of his career were at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics where he beat his teammate from behind with a late closing sprint, in a photo finish that took minutes to determine. At the 2013 World Championships, where he won gold medals in both the individual classic sprint and the team freestyle sprint. A late fall by another team that impeded his closing 200 metres likely cost him a second Olympic Gold in the team sprint in Sochi where he took silver.
In November 2017, Maxim Vylegzhanin was disqualified for doping offenses, as a result Kryukov lost its silver medal in the Team sprint awarded at the 2014 Winter Olympics.IOC sanctions four Russian athletes as part of Oswald Commission findings On 22 December 2017 Kriukov as well was found to have committed violations against the anti-doping rule at the 2014 Olympics. He was ordered to return his Olympic silver medal and barred from all future Olympic games. In January 2018, he successfully appealed against the lifetime ban as well as decision to strip his medal from Sochi Olympics at the court of arbitration for sport.
Kryukov announced his retirement from cross-country skiing on 8 April 2019.
Cross-country skiing results All results are sourced from the International Ski Federation (FIS).
Olympic Games 2 medals – (1 gold, 1 silver)
Year Age 15 km individual 30 km skiathlon 50 km mass start Sprint 4 × 10 km relay Team sprint 2010 24 — — — Gold — — 2014 28 — — — 13 — Silver
World Championships 5 medals – (3 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze) Year Age 15 km individual 30 km skiathlon 50 km mass start Sprint 4 × 10 km relay Team sprint 2009 23 — — — — — 4 2011 25 — — — — — Bronze 2013 27 — — — Gold — Gold 2015 29 — — — 4 — Silver 2017 31 — — — — — Gold
World Cup Season standings Season Age Discipline standingsSki Tour standingsOverallDistanceSprintNordicOpeningTour deSkiWorld CupFinalSki TourCanada 2007 21 132 64 — 2008 22 56 — 22 — — 2009 23 35 10 — 68 2010 24 21 — 6 — 2011 25 55 — 19 — — 2012 26 34 70 10 2013 27 25 — — 2014 28 25 — 5 — 2015 29 42 — 12 — — 2016 30 49 19 — — 2017 31 83 — 36 — —— 2018 32 — ———
Individual podiums 5 victories – (1 , 4 ) 14 podiums – (8 , 6 ) No. Season Date Location Race Level Place1 2009–10 28 November 2009 Rukatunturi, Finland 1.4 km Sprint C World Cup 3rd2 17 January 2010 Otepää, Estonia 1.4 km Sprint C World Cup 3rd3 22 January 2010 Rybinsk, Russia 1.3 km Sprint F World Cup 3rd4 17 March 2010 Stockholm, Sweden 1.0 km Sprint CStage World Cup 1st5 2010–11 23 January 2011 Otepää, Estonia 1.4 km Sprint C World Cup 3rd6 2011–12 25 November 2011 Rukatunturi, Finland 1.4 km Sprint C World Cup 2nd7 31 December 2011 Oberstdorf, Germany 1.2 km Sprint CStage World Cup 1st8 4 March 2012 Lahti, Finland 1.3 km Sprint C World Cup 3rd9 2012–1330 November 2012 Rukatunturi, Finland 1.4 km Sprint CStage World Cup 1st1015 December 2012 Canmore, Canada 1.3 km Sprint F World Cup 3rd11 13 March 2013 Drammen, Norway 1.3 km Sprint C World Cup 3rd12 20 March 2013 Stockholm, Sweden 1.1 km Sprint C Stage World Cup 3rd13 2013–1421 December 2013 Asiago, Italy 1.65 km Sprint CStage World Cup 1st14 2015–1611 February 2016 Stockholm, Sweden 1.2 km Sprint CStage World Cup 1st
Team podiums
1 victory – (1 ) 5 podiums – (5 )
No. Season Date Location Race Level Place Teammate1 2011–12 4 December 2011 Düsseldorf, Germany 6 × 1.7 km Team Sprint F World Cup 2nd Petukhov2 2013–13 4 December 2011 Quebec City, Canada 6 × 1.6 km Team Sprint F World Cup 2nd Petukhov3 13 January 2013 Liberec, Czech Republic 6 × 1.6 km Team Sprint F World Cup 3rd Petukhov4 2013–1414 January 2014 Nové Město, Czech Republic 6 × 1.6 km Team Sprint CWorld Cup 1st Vylegzhanin5 2016–17 5 January 2017 Pyeongchang, South Korea 6 × 1.5 km Team Sprint F World Cup 3rd Maltsev
References
External links