Nikita Kryukov
Introduction '''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. 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 '''1st'''5 ''' 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 '''1st'''8 4 March 2012   Lahti, Finland  1.3 km Sprint C World Cup  3rd9 '''2012–13'''30 November 2012    Rukatunturi, Finland  1.4 km Sprint CStage World Cup '''1st'''1015 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 '''2013–14'''21 December 2013    Asiago, Italy  1.65 km Sprint CStage World Cup '''1st'''14 '''2015–16'''11 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 '''2013–14'''14 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
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