Alexander Gennadiyevich Legkov (russian: Алекса́ндр Геннáдьевич Легков; born 7 May 1983) is a retired Russian

cross-country skier Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreation ...

who competed internationally between 2002 and 2017. He has five individual World Cup victories including one Tour de Ski title, as well as gold and silver medals at the

2014 Winter Olympics The 2014 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXII Olympic Winter Games (russian: XXII Олимпийские зимние игры, XXII Olimpiyskiye zimniye igry) and commonly known as Sochi 2014 (russian: Сочи 2014), was an international ...

Biography

Legkov participated in three Winter Olympic Games ( 2006,

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

). Legkov finished in fourth place after a strong final push to catch then-leader Johan Olsson of Sweden at the 2010 Winter Olympics' 30 km double pursuit. Olsson finished in third place with Legkov 1.2 seconds behind. Legkov's next best result was eight in the 4 × 10 km relay at the 2010 Games in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. Th ...

. In

in Sochi Legkov wins the gold medal in the 50 km freestyle, and the silver medal in the 4 × 10 km relay. Legkov was second behind

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

's Tobias Angerer in the 2006–07 World Cup. He earned a silver in the 4 × 10 km relay and finished twice in sixth place (15 km, 15 km + 15 km double pursuit) at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championship in

Sapporo ( ain, サッ・ポロ・ペッ, Satporopet, lit=Dry, Great River) is a city in Japan. It is the largest city north of Tokyo and the largest city on Hokkaido, the northernmost main island of the country. It ranks as the fifth most populous ci ...

in 2007. Alexander Legkov was Total winner of Tour de Ski 2012–13 when he defeated

Dario Cologna Dario Cologna (born 11 March 1986) is a Swiss cross-country skier. He has four overall World Cup victories, four Olympic gold medals, one World Championships gold medal and four Tour de Ski victories in his career. On 3 November 2021, he announ ...

, Maxim Vylegzhanin and

Petter Northug Petter Northug Jr. (born 6 January 1986) is a Norwegian former cross-country skier and double Olympic champion. He won a total of 13 World Championship and two Winter Olympic gold medals with 20 medals overall (two gold, one silver and one bronze ...

racing up Alpe Cermis on 6 January 2013. On 6 April 2018, Legkov announced his retirement from sport during his participation at the competition "Sports Elite" in

Khanty-Mansiysk Khanty-Mansiysk ( rus, Ха́нты-Манси́йск, Khánty-Mansíysk, lit. ''Khanty-Mansi Town''; Khanty: , ''Jomvoćś''; Mansi: , ''Abga'') is a city and the administrative center of Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug–Yugra, Russia. It stand ...

Doping case

In December 2016, the International Ski Federation provisionally suspended six Russian cross-country skiers linked to doping violations during the

, including Legkov. In November 2017, Legkov was disqualified for doping offences by the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swis ...

, and his 2014 Olympic results were annulled. In February 2018, the international

Court of Arbitration for Sport The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS; french: Tribunal arbitral du sport, ''TAS'') is an international body established in 1984 to settle disputes related to sport through arbitration. Its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland and its c ...

reinstated Legkov's results in Sochi 2014, including two medals, and annulled disqualification imposed by IOC. CAS concluded that there were no sufficient evidence that Legkov had broken anti-doping rules. On 19 January 2019 the IOC's appeal of Legkov's case was rejected by the Swiss Federal Tribunal, which according to the Legkov's lawyer means that he had been "finally cleared of the accusation of doping at 2014".

Cross-country skiing results

All results are sourced from the International Ski Federation (FIS).

Olympic Games

* 2 medals – (1 gold, 1 silver)

World Championships

* 2 medals – (1 silver, 1 bronze)

World Cup

Season titles

* 1 title – (1 distance)

Season standings

Individual podiums

*9 victories – (6 , 3 ) *35 podiums – (22 , 13 )

Team podiums

*3 victories – (3 ) *12 podiums – (12 )

Personal life

Legkov is a member of PutinTeam, a political organization founded in support of

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime m ...

.https://openski.ru/friday/5280/legkov-vstupil-v-putin-team.html

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Legkov, Alexander 1983 births Living people People from Moscow Oblast Cross-country skiers at the 2006 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiers at the 2010 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiers at the 2014 Winter Olympics Olympic cross-country skiers of Russia Russian male cross-country skiers FIS Nordic World Ski Championships medalists in cross-country skiing Olympic gold medalists for Russia Olympic silver medalists for Russia Russian sportspeople in doping cases Tour de Ski winners Tour de Ski skiers Sportspeople from Moscow Oblast