Alexander Bolshunov

Bolshunov was born in Podyvotye in the Bryansk Oblast, located just several kilometres from the Russian-Ukraine border. It was there were he started his sports career with his coach and father Alexander Ivanovich Bolshunov.[2] In 2011, his father brought him to the Bryansk sports school for ski-cross skiing, where he was coached by Merited Coach of Russia N. I. Nekhitrov.[3] The first victories on nationals came a year ago, when on 6 February 2013 Bolshunov took the first place in 10 km classic in a tournament taking place in the Tver Oblast.[4]

On 17 March 2014, Bolshunov won the 20 km skiathlon event at the Russian Junior Nationals,[5] resulting Bolshunov being bestowed the honorary Master of Sports of Russia.[6] After the nationals he was invited to the junior team. A year later he participated in the sprint event of the FIS Junior World Ski Championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan, but failed to qualify for the sprint final, leaving him without medals.[7] In the following Youth Championships in Rasnov, Romania, his best result was 2nd, in the relay event.[8]

In 2017, Bolshunov took part in the FIS U23 World Ski Championships in the venue Soldier Hollow, Utah, United States, where the 2002 Winter Olympics were held. He won silver in sprint,[9] and a few days later he won the 15 km individual freestyle event.[10] The skiathlon event was marked by a memorable performance by Bolshunov, Alexey Chervotkin and Denis Spitsov, who entered the finish line hand in hand.[11] Bolshunov was declared the winner.[12] As a result, Bolshunov was conferred the highest honorary sports title of Russia, "International Master of Sports".[13]

Bolshunov's first major senior tournament in which he competed were the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2017 in Lahti, Finland, finishing 26th in sprint and 15th in skiatlon. In the 2016–17 season he entered his first FIS World Cup stage in Drammen, Norway, in March 2017, finishing 9th. He won his first podium in the next season in the third Stage World Cup in Ruka, Finland, on 26 November, in 15 km freestyle pursuit.[14] In the overall standings of the three Ruka stages, the "Ruka Triple", he was placed third.[15] He showed strong results by the year's end, finishing four times in the third places.

After the 2017–18 Tour de Ski – in the 15 km pursuit stage he reached the third-place – Bolshunov missed a handful of WC stages to prepare for the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. At the Olympics, he rebounded by winning three silver medals and one bronze medal. He won his first Olympic medal in sprint classical, losing only to Johannes Høsflot Klæbo and Federico Pellegrino. Bolshunov then won medals in team sprint freestyle, 4 × 10 km relay and 50 km classical.

In March, Bolshunov reached the second place in a WC stage for the first time in his career, in the 15 km classical event in Lahti. He also finished third in a WC stage in Drammen, now in sprint classical. By the season's end, Bolshunov won the World Cup Final after winning the 15 km classical mass start and 15 km freestyle pursuit stages.[16] In the overall World Cup standings he was placed 5th.[17]

In the 2018–19 FIS Cross-Country World Cup season, Bolshunov won the first two WC stages in Ruka, in sprint classical and 15 km classical, receiving the yellow bib as a result. Bolshunov led in the overall standings after fifteen stages until being replaced by Johannes Høsflot Klæbo during the Tour de Ski.

Before the World Championships, Bolshunov clinched another stage win in Italian Cogne in 15 km classical. Bolshunov debuted at the World and won four silver medals in 30 km skiathlon, 50 km freestyle mass start, as well as in team sprint and 4 × 10 km relay. On 9 March he won another stage in 50 km classical mass start in Holmenkollen, returning the yellow bib after Klæbo's poor performance there. As a result, Bolshunov at age 22 became not only the youngest winner of the marathon stage, but also the youngest winner of the Distance Cup, claiming the Small Crystal Globe.[18]

Bolshunov started the 2019–20 FIS Cross-Country World Cup by participating in the mini-event 2019 Nordic Opening, where he was positioned fifth in the overall ranking. He won the next stage in Lillehammer, for the first time in the 30 km skiathlon classic and freestyle event. Bolshunov entered the 2019–20 Tour de Ski by reaching the third place in 15 km mass start freestyle. He went on reaching five out of six podium places in the next stages, only failing in the first sprint stage in Lenzerheide, stopping in the semifinals. Although he won only one stage, and five times finished third, he took the first position in the overall ranking, becoming the third Russian to do so. After this victory he received the right to wear the yellow bib previously worn by Klæbo.[19] He went on winning three back-to-back long distance stages, doing so in Nové Město and Oberstdorf.

Prior to the FIS Ski Tour 2020, Bolshunov finished third in the sprint and first in 15 km mass start stage, both in Falun. In the inaugural Ski Tour, Bolshunov led in the overall standings after the 5th stage, but in the 6th stage following an ill-conceived preparation of the skies by the team staff, who hoped the snowfall would stop soon and so decided not to use the no wax anti-ice method, Bolshunov finished 7th.[20][21] In the same month, in February, Bolshunov took the second position in 15 km classic in Lahti. He finished the season by winning the 50 km classic mass start event in Oslo and went on winning the overall World Cup ahead of schedule after the remaining stages did not take place due to the coronavirus outbreak. He became the first post-Soviet Russian male ski-cross skier to win the World Cup and the first Russian since Soviet Vladimir Smirnov, who won the 1991 edition.[22] Beside that, Bolshunov won his second consecutive Distance Cup title. Due to the pandemic, the ceremony was postponed indefinitely and the Crystal Globe was presented to the Russian only three months later.[23]

Bolshunov started the new season finishing overall second in the Ruka Triple after only Klæbo. Before the 2021 Tour de Ski, he claimed a distance title in Swiss Davos and his first team title in team sprint with Retivykh, in a sprint tournament traditionally taking place in Dresden, Germany, this time without Norwegian, Finnish and Swedish skiers, after their federations decided to quit sending skiers due to concerns over COVID-19.[24] As a result of the withdrawal, Bolshunov was awarded the yellow bib. The Tour de Ski saw a return of Swedish and Finnish, but not of Norwegian skiers.

After the first, sprint stage, where Bolshunov finished second, the Russian won five consecutive stages, repeating the World Cup tour record of Ustiugov and Dæhlie,[25] but failed to update the record as he came third in the following sprint stage in Val di Fiemme. In the 10 km Final Climb Mass Start stage he finished 2nd. But this secured him winning the Tour de Ski for a second time, finishing by a record margin of three minutes twenty-three seconds ahead of other skiers.[26] During the final stage of the ski race in Lahti Bolshunov attempted twice to slash Finnish skier Joni Mäki, and towards the finish rammed Mäki and knocked him down, resulting Bolshunov being disqualified.[27] Bolshunov officially apologized for his behaviour after the competition.[28]

• 4 medals – (3 silver, 1 bronze)

• 4 medals – (4 silver)

• 3 titles – (1 Overall, 2 Distance)

• 26 victories – (18 WC, 8 SWC)
• 53 podiums – (30 WC, 23 SWC)

No.	Season	Date	Location	Race	Level	Place
1	2017–18	24–26 November 2017	Nordic Opening	Overall Standings	World Cup	3rd
2		2 December 2017	Lillehammer, Norway	1.5 km Sprint C	World Cup	3rd
3		9 December 2017	Davos, Switzerland	1.5 km Sprint F	World Cup	3rd
4		10 December 2017		15 km Individual F	World Cup	3rd
5		1 January 2018	Lenzerheide, Switzerland	15 km Pursuit F	Stage World Cup	3rd
6		4 March 2018	Lahti, Finland	15 km Individual C	World Cup	1st
7		7 March 2018	Drammen, Norway	1.2 km Sprint C	World Cup	3rd
8		17 March 2018	Falun, Sweden	15 km Mass Start C	Stage World Cup	1st
9		16–18 March 2018	World Cup Final	Overall Standings	World Cup	1st
10	2018–19	24 November 2018	Rukatunturi, Finland	1.5 km Sprint C	World Cup	1st
11		25 November 2018		15 km Individual C	World Cup	1st
12		30 December 2018	Toblach, Italy	15 km Individual F	Stage World Cup	3rd
13		3 January 2019	Oberstdorf, Germany	15 km Pursuit F	Stage World Cup	3rd
14		5 January 2019	Val di Fiemme, Italy	15 km Mass Start C	Stage World Cup	3rd
15		19 January 2019	Otepää, Estonia	1.6 km Sprint C	World Cup	2nd
16		20 January 2019		15 km Individual C	World Cup	2nd
17		17 February 2019	Cogne, Italy	15 km Individual C	World Cup	1st
18		9 March 2019	Oslo, Norway	50 km Mass Start C	World Cup	1st
19		17 March 2019	Falun, Sweden	15 km Individual F	World Cup	1st
20		24 March 2019	Quebec City, Canada	15 km Pursuit F	Stage World Cup	2nd
21		22–24 March 2019	World Cup Final	Overall Standings	World Cup	3rd
22	2019–20	7 December 2019	Lillehammer, Norway	15 km + 15 km Skiathlon C/F	World Cup	1st
23		28 December 2019	Lenzerheide, Switzerland	15 km Mass Start F	Stage World Cup	3rd
24		31 December 2019	Toblach, Italy	15 km Individual F	Stage World Cup	3rd
25		1 January 2020		15 km Pursuit C	Stage World Cup	1st
26		3 January 2020	Val di Fiemme, Italy	15 km Mass Start C	Stage World Cup	3rd
27		4 January 2020		1.5 km Sprint C	Stage World Cup	3rd
28		5 January 2020		10 km Mass Start F	Stage World Cup	3rd
29		28 December 2019 – 5 January 2020	Tour de Ski	Overall Standings	World Cup	1st
30		18 January 2020	Nové Město, Czech Republic	15 km Individual F	World Cup	1st
31		19 January 2020		15 km Pursuit C	World Cup	1st
32		25 January 2020	Oberstdorf, Germany	15 km + 15 km Skiathlon C/F	World Cup	1st
33		8 February 2020	Falun, Sweden	1.4 km Sprint C	World Cup	3rd
34		9 February 2020		15 km Mass Start F	World Cup	1st
35		16 February 2020	Östersund, Sweden	15 km Pursuit C	Stage World Cup	2nd
36		20 February 2020	Meråker, Norway	34 km Mass Start F	Stage World Cup	1st
37		29 February 2020	Lahti, Finland	15 km Individual C	World Cup	2nd
38		8 March 2020	Oslo, Norway	50 km Mass Start C	World Cup	1st
39	2020–21	28 November 2020	Rukatunturi, Finland	15 km Individual C	Stage World Cup	3rd
40		27–29 November 2020	Nordic Opening	Overall Standings	World Cup	2nd
41		12 December 2020	Davos, Switzerland	1.5 km Sprint F	World Cup	2nd
42		13 December 2020		15 km Individual F	World Cup	1st
43		1 January 2021	Val Müstair, Switzerland	1.4 km Sprint F	Stage World Cup	2nd
44		2 January 2021		15 km Mass Start C	Stage World Cup	1st
45		3 January 2021		15 km Pursuit F	Stage World Cup	1st
46		5 January 2021	Toblach, Italy	15 km Individual F	Stage World Cup	1st
47		6 January 2021		15 km Pursuit C	Stage World Cup	1st
48		8 January 2021	Val di Fiemme, Italy	15 km Mass Start C	Stage World Cup	1st
49		9 January 2021		1.5 km Sprint C	Stage World Cup	3rd
50		10 January 2020		10 km Mass Start F	Stage World Cup	2nd
51		1–10 January 2021	Tour de Ski	Overall Standings	World Cup	1st
52		29 January 2021	Falun, Sweden	15 km Individual F	World Cup	1st
53		30 January 2021		15 km Mass Start C	World Cup	1st

• 1 victory – (1 TS)
• 3 podiums – (3 RL, 1 TS)

No.	Season	Date	Location	Race	Level	Place	Teammates
1	2018–19	9 December 2018	Beitostølen, Norway	4 × 7.5 km Relay C/F	World Cup	2nd	Belov / Spitsov / Melnichenko
2		27 January 2019	Ulricehamn, Sweden	4 × 7.5 km Relay C/F	World Cup	2nd	Larkov / Melnichenko / Ustiugov
3	2020–21	20 December 2020	Dresden, Italy	12 × 0.65 km Team Sprint F	World Cup	1st	Retivykh