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 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Nikita Kryukov at the 2009 World Championships in Liberec | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country |  Russia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Full name | Nikita Valeryevich Kryukov | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 30 May 1985 Dzerzhinsky, Moscow Oblast, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ski club | Sdusor 81 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Cup career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Seasons | 12 – (2007–2018) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Starts | 92 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Podiums | 14 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wins | 5 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Overall titles | 0 – (21st in 2010) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Discipline titles | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Career
editThe 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 8 April 2019.[4]
Cross-country skiing results
editAll results are sourced from the International Ski Federation (FIS).[5]
Olympic Games
edit- 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
edit- 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
editSeason standings
edit| Season | Age | Discipline standings | Ski Tour standings | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | Distance | Sprint | Nordic Opening |
Tour de Ski |
World Cup Final |
Ski Tour Canada | ||
| 2007 | 21 | 132 | NC | 64 | — | — | — | — |
| 2008 | 22 | 56 | — | 22 | — | — | — | — |
| 2009 | 23 | 35 | NC | 10 | — | — | 68 | — |
| 2010 | 24 | 21 | — | 6 | — | — | DNF | — |
| 2011 | 25 | 55 | — | 19 | DNF | — | — | — |
| 2012 | 26 | 34 | 70 | 10 | DNF | DNF | DNF | — |
| 2013 | 27 | 25 | — |  |
DNF | — | DNF | — |
| 2014 | 28 | 25 | — | 5 | DNF | — | DNF | — |
| 2015 | 29 | 42 | — | 12 | — | — | — | — |
| 2016 | 30 | 49 | NC | 19 | DNF | — | — | — |
| 2017 | 31 | 83 | — | 36 | — | — | — | — |
| 2018 | 32 | NC | — | NC | — | — | — | — |
Individual podiums
edit- 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, Finland |
1.4 km Sprint C | World Cup | 3rd |
| 2 | 17 January 2010 |  Otepää, Estonia |
1.4 km Sprint C | World Cup | 3rd | |
| 3 | 22 January 2010 | Rybinsk, Russia |
1.3 km Sprint F | World Cup | 3rd | |
| 4 | 17 March 2010 |  Stockholm, Sweden |
1.0 km Sprint C | Stage World Cup | 1st | |
| 5 | 2010–11 | 23 January 2011 | Otepää, Estonia |
1.4 km Sprint C | World Cup | 3rd |
| 6 | 2011–12 | 25 November 2011 | Rukatunturi, Finland |
1.4 km Sprint C | World Cup | 2nd |
| 7 | 31 December 2011 |  Oberstdorf, Germany |
1.2 km Sprint C | Stage World Cup | 1st | |
| 8 | 4 March 2012 | Lahti, Finland |
1.3 km Sprint C | World Cup | 3rd | |
| 9 | 2012–13 | 30 November 2012 | Rukatunturi, Finland |
1.4 km Sprint C | Stage World Cup | 1st |
| 10 | 15 December 2012 |  Canmore, Canada |
1.3 km Sprint F | World Cup | 3rd | |
| 11 | 13 March 2013 |  Drammen, Norway |
1.3 km Sprint C | World Cup | 3rd | |
| 12 | 20 March 2013 | Stockholm, Sweden |
1.1 km Sprint C | Stage World Cup | 3rd | |
| 13 | 2013–14 | 21 December 2013 |  Asiago, Italy |
1.65 km Sprint C | Stage World Cup | 1st |
| 14 | 2015–16 | 11 February 2016 | Stockholm, Sweden |
1.2 km Sprint C | Stage World Cup | 1st |
Team podiums
edit- 1 victory – (1 TS)
- 5 podiums – (5 TS)
| No. | Season | Date | Location | Race | Level | Place | Teammate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2011–12 | 4 December 2011 | Düsseldorf, Germany |
6 × 1.7 km Team Sprint F | World Cup | 2nd | Petukhov |
| 2 | 2013–13 | 4 December 2011 | Quebec City, Canada |
6 × 1.6 km Team Sprint F | World Cup | 2nd | Petukhov |
| 3 | 13 January 2013 |  Liberec, Czech Republic |
6 × 1.6 km Team Sprint F | World Cup | 3rd | Petukhov | |
| 4 | 2013–14 | 14 January 2014 | Nové Město, Czech Republic |
6 × 1.6 km Team Sprint C | World Cup | 1st | Vylegzhanin |
| 5 | 2016–17 | 5 January 2017 |  Pyeongchang, South Korea |
6 × 1.5 km Team Sprint F | World Cup | 3rd | Maltsev |
References
edit- ^ IOC sanctions four Russian athletes as part of Oswald Commission findings
- ^ "Russian doping: IOC bans 11 Winter Olympic athletes". BBC Sport. 22 December 2017. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Олимпийский чемпион по лыжным гонкам Крюков объявил о завершении карьеры" (in Russian). TASS. 8 April 2019. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
- ^ "Athlete : KRIUKOV Nikita". FIS-Ski. International Ski Federation. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
