Nikita Kryukov

Nikita Valeryevich Kryukov (Russian: Никита Валерьевич Крюков; 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.

Nikita Kryukov
Nikita Kryukov at the 2009 World Championships in Liberec
Country Russia
Full nameNikita Valeryevich Kryukov
Born (1985-05-30) May 30, 1985
Dzerzhinsky, Moscow Oblast, Soviet Union
Ski clubSdusor 81
World Cup career
Seasons2007–2018
Individual wins5
Team wins1
Indiv. podiums14
Team podiums5
Indiv. starts92
Team starts14
Overall titles0 – (21st in 2010)
Discipline titles0
Medal record
Men's cross-country skiing
Representing  Russia
International nordic ski competitions
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Olympic Games 1 1 0
World Championships 3 1 1
Total 4 2 1
Olympic Games
2010 VancouverIndividual sprint
2014 SochiTeam sprint
World Championships
2013 Val di FiemmeIndividual sprint
2013 Val di FiemmeTeam sprint
2017 LahtiTeam sprint
2015 FalunTeam sprint
2011 OsloTeam 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.[1] 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.[2] 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.[3]

Kryukov announced his retirement from cross-country skiing on April 8, 2019.[4]

Cross-country skiing results

All results are sourced from the International Ski Federation (FIS).[5]

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 
201024———Gold——
201428———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 
200923—————4
201125—————Bronze
201327———Gold—Gold
201529———4—Silver
201731—————Gold

World Cup

Season standings
 Season   Age  Discipline standings Ski Tour standings
Overall Distance Sprint Nordic
Opening		 Tour de
Ski		 World Cup
Final		 Ski Tour
Canada
200721132NC64N/A—N/AN/A
20082256—22N/A——N/A
20092335NC10N/A—68N/A
20102421—6N/A—DNFN/A
20112555—19DNF——N/A
201226347010DNFDNFDNFN/A
20132725—DNF—DNFN/A
20142825—5DNF—DNFN/A
20152942—12——N/AN/A
20163049NC19DNF—N/A—
20173183—36———N/A
201832NC—NC———N/A

Individual podiums
  • 5 victories – (1 WC, 4 SWC)
  • 14 podiums – (8 WC, 6 SWC)
No. Season Date Location Race Level Place
1 2009–10 28 November 2009 Rukatunturi, Finland1.4 km Sprint CWorld Cup3rd
217 January 2010 Otepää, Estonia1.4 km Sprint CWorld Cup3rd
322 January 2010 Rybinsk, Russia1.3 km Sprint FWorld Cup3rd
417 March 2010 Stockholm, Sweden1.0 km Sprint CStage World Cup1st
5 2010–11 23 January 2011 Otepää, Estonia1.4 km Sprint CWorld Cup3rd
6 2011–12 25 November 2011 Rukatunturi, Finland1.4 km Sprint CWorld Cup2nd
717 March 2010 Oberstdorf, Germany1.2 km Sprint CStage World Cup1st
84 March 2012 Lahti, Finland1.3 km Sprint CWorld Cup3rd
92012–1330 November 2012 Rukatunturi, Finland1.4 km Sprint CStage World Cup1st
1015 December 2012 Canmore, Canada1.3 km Sprint FWorld Cup3rd
1113 March 2013 Drammen, Norway1.3 km Sprint CWorld Cup3rd
1220 March 2013 Stockholm, Sweden1.1 km Sprint CStage World Cup3rd
132013–1421 December 2013 Asiago, Italy1.65 km Sprint CStage World Cup1st
142015–1611 February 2016 Stockholm, Sweden1.2 km Sprint CStage World Cup1st

Team podiums
  • 1 victory – (1 TS)
  • 5 podiums – (5 TS)
No. Season Date Location Race Level Place Teammate
1 2011–12 4 December 2011 Düsseldorf, Germany6 × 1.7 km Team Sprint FWorld Cup2ndPetukhov
2 2013–13 4 December 2011 Quebec City, Canada6 × 1.6 km Team Sprint FWorld Cup2ndPetukhov
313 January 2013 Liberec, Czech Republic6 × 1.6 km Team Sprint FWorld Cup3rdPetukhov
42013–1414 January 2014 Nové Město, Czech Republic6 × 1.6 km Team Sprint CWorld Cup1stVylegzhanin
5 2016–17 5 January 2017 Pyeongchang, South Korea6 × 1.5 km Team Sprint FWorld Cup3rdMaltsev

References
  1. IOC sanctions four Russian athletes as part of Oswald Commission findings
  2. "Russian doping: IOC bans 11 Winter Olympic athletes". BBC Sport. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
  3. "THE COURT OF ARBITRATION FOR SPORT (CAS) DELIVERS ITS DECISIONS IN THE MATTER OF 39 RUSSIAN ATHLETES V/ THE IOC:28 APPEALS UPHELD, 11 PARTIALLY UPHELD" (PDF). THE COURT OF ARBITRATION FOR SPORT. 2018-02-01. Retrieved 2018-02-01.
  4. "Олимпийский чемпион по лыжным гонкам Крюков объявил о завершении карьеры" (in Russian). TASS. 8 April 2019. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
  5. "Athlete : KRIUKOV Nikita". FIS-Ski. International Ski Federation. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
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