Alexander Bolshunov

Alexander Alexandrovich Bolshunov (Александр Александрович Большунов, also tr. Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Bolshunov; born 31 December 1996) is a Russian cross-country skier and two-time winner of the 14th and 15th Tour de Ski.

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 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.

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 teammates Bolshunov, Alexey Chervotkin and Denis Spitsov, who entered the finish line hand in hand.

Bolshunov was declared the winner after video review.

As a result, Bolshunov was conferred the highest honorary sports title of Russia, "International Master of Sports".

Bolshunov's first major senior tournament in which he competed was the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2017 in Lahti, Finland, finishing 26th in sprint and 15th in skiathlon.

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 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.

Bolshunov won the World Cup Final by the season's end 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.

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 third place in 15 km mass start freestyle.

He reached five out of six podium places in the following stages, only failing in the first sprint stage in Lenzerheide, stopping in the semi-finals.

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.

Bolshunov is a nine-time Olympic medalist, three of which are gold, and is also the first male post-Soviet Russian World Cup champion, winning the overall World Cup in 2020 and 2021.

Bolshunov was born in Podyvotye in the Bryansk Oblast, located just several kilometres from the Russia-Ukraine border.

It was there where he started his sports career with his coach and father Alexander Ivanovich Bolshunov.