Alexander Bolshunov


Alexander Aleksandrovich Bolshunov is a Russian cross-country skier and winner of the 14th Tour de Ski. He is the first male post-Soviet Russian World Cup champion, winning the overall World Cup in 2020.

Career

2013–17: Twofold U23 World Champion

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. 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. 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.
On 17 March 2014, Bolshunov won the 20 km skiathlon event at the Russian Junior Nationals, resulting Bolshunov being bestowed the honorary Master of Sports of Russia. 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. In the following Youth Championships in Rasnov, Romania, his best result was 2nd, in the relay event.
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, and a few days later he won the 15 km individual freestyle event. The skiathlon event was marked by a memorable performance by Bolshunov, Alexey Chervotkin and Denis Spitsov, who entered the finish line hand in hand. Bolshunov was declared the winner. As a result, Bolshunov was conferred the highest honorary sports title of Russia, "International Master of Sports".

2017–18: FIS World Cup debut

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. In the overall standings of the three Ruka stages, the "Ruka Triple", he was placed third. 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.

2018–19: Distance Cup winner

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. In the overall World Cup standings he was placed 5th.
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.

2019–20: Tour de Ski champion, World Cup overall winner

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 was awarded the yellow bib which was previously possessed by Klæbo and which he wore throughout the rest of the season. 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. 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 Russian male ski-cross skier to win the World Cup since Soviet Vladimir Smirnov, who won the 1991 edition. He also won his second consecutive Distance Cup title.

Cross-country skiing results

All results are sourced from the International Ski Federation.

Olympic Games

Year Age 15 km
individual		 30 km
skiathlon 		50 km
mass start		 Sprint 4 × 10 km
relay 		Team
sprint
201821——SilverBronzeSilverSilver

World Championships

Year Age 15 km
individual		 30 km
skiathlon 		50 km
mass start		 Sprint 4 × 10 km
relay 		Team
sprint
201720—15—26——
2019228SilverSilver11SilverSilver

World Cup

Season titles

Individual podiums

No.SeasonDateLocationRaceLevelPlace
1 2017–18 24–26 November 2017 Nordic OpeningOverall StandingsWorld Cup3rd
2 2017–18 2 December 2017 Lillehammer, Norway1.5 km Sprint CWorld Cup3rd
3 2017–18 9 December 2017 Davos, Switzerland1.5 km Sprint FWorld Cup3rd
4 2017–18 10 December 2017 Davos, Switzerland15 km Individual FWorld Cup3rd
5 2017–18 1 January 2018 Lenzerheide, Switzerland15 km Pursuit FStage World Cup3rd
6 2017–18 4 March 2018 Lahti, Finland15 km Individual CWorld Cup1st
7 2017–18 7 March 2018 Drammen, Norway1.2 km Sprint CWorld Cup3rd
8 2017–18 17 March 2018 Falun, Sweden15 km Mass Start CStage World Cup1st
9 2017–18 16–18 March 2018 World Cup FinalOverall StandingsWorld Cup1st
10 2018–19 24 November 2018 Rukatunturi, Finland1.5 km Sprint CWorld Cup1st
11 2018–19 25 November 2018 Rukatunturi, Finland15 km Individual CWorld Cup1st
12 2018–19 30 December 2018 Toblach, Italy15 km Individual FStage World Cup3rd
13 2018–19 3 January 2019 Oberstdorf, Germany15 km Pursuit FStage World Cup3rd
14 2018–19 5 January 2019 Val di Fiemme, Italy15 km Mass Start CStage World Cup3rd
15 2018–19 19 January 2019 Otepää, Estonia1.6 km Sprint CWorld Cup2nd
16 2018–19 20 January 2019 Otepää, Estonia15 km Individual CWorld Cup2nd
17 2018–19 17 February 2019 Cogne, Italy15 km Individual CWorld Cup1st
18 2018–19 9 March 2019 Oslo, Norway50 km Mass Start CWorld Cup1st
19 2018–19 17 March 2019 Falun, Sweden15 km Individual FWorld Cup1st
20 2018–19 24 March 2019 Quebec City, Canada15 km Pursuit FStage World Cup2nd
21 2018–19 24 March 2019 World Cup FinalOverall StandingsWorld Cup3rd
22 2019–20 7 December 2019 Lillehammer, Norway15 km + 15 km Skiathlon C/FWorld Cup1st
23 2019–20 28 December 2019 Lenzerheide, Switzerland15 km Mass Start FStage World Cup3rd
24 2019–20 31 December 2019 Toblach, Italy15 km Individual FStage World Cup3rd
25 2019–20 1 January 2020 Toblach, Italy15 km Pursuit CStage World Cup1st
26 2019–20 3 January 2020 Val di Fiemme, Italy15 km Mass Start CStage World Cup3rd
27 2019–20 4 January 2020 Val di Fiemme, Italy1.5 km Sprint CStage World Cup3rd
28 2019–20 5 January 2020 Val di Fiemme, Italy10 km Mass Start FStage World Cup3rd
29 2019–20 28 December 2019
– 5 January 2020		 Tour de SkiOverall StandingsWorld Cup1st
30 2019–20 18 January 2020 Nové Město, Czech Republic15 km Individual FWorld Cup1st
31 2019–20 19 January 2020 Nové Město, Czech Republic15 km Pursuit CWorld Cup1st
32 2019–20 25 January 2020 Oberstdorf, Germany15 km + 15 km Skiathlon C/FWorld Cup1st
33 2019–20 8 February 2020 Falun, Sweden1.4 km Sprint CWorld Cup3rd
34 2019–20 9 February 2020 Falun, Sweden15 km Mass Start FWorld Cup1st
35 2019–20 16 February 2020 Östersund, Sweden15 km Pursuit CStage World Cup2nd
36 2019–20 20 February 2020 Meråker, Norway34 km Mass Start FStage World Cup1st
37 2019–20 29 February 2020 Lahti, Finland15 km Individual CWorld Cup2nd
38 2019–20 8 March 2020 Oslo, Norway50 km Mass Start CWorld Cup1st

Team podiums

No.SeasonDateLocationRaceLevelPlaceTeammates
1 2018–19 9 December 2018 Beitostølen, Norway4 × 7.5 km Relay C/FWorld Cup2ndBelov / Spitsov / Melnichenko
2 2018–19 27 January 2019 Ulricehamn, Sweden4 × 7.5 km Relay C/FWorld Cup2ndLarkov / Melnichenko / Ustiugov