Alexandr Yuryevich Zubkov (russian: Александр Юрьевич Зубков; born 10 August 1974) is a Russian retired

bobsled Bobsleigh or bobsled is a team winter sport that involves making timed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sleigh. International bobsleigh competitions are governed by the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Fede ...

der who has competed since 1999. Competing in four

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...

, he won two medals with a silver in 2006 (four-man) and a bronze in

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 ...

(two-man).Aleksandr Zubkov
Sports-Reference.com On 24 November 2017, he was found guilty of doping offences and stripped of his medals from 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 ...

Career

Vladimir Putin and Aleksandr Zubkov 24 February 2014

Zubkov also won four medals at the

FIBT World Championships The IBSF World Championships (known as the FIBT World Championships until 2015), part of the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation, have taken place on an annual basis since 1930. Starting with 2002, championships of non- Winter Olympic ...

with two silvers (Four-man:

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris (dwarf planet), Er ...

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing ...

) and two bronzes (Two-man: 2008, Four-man:

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, disintegrated during reentry into Atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an 2002– ...

). He won the

Bobsleigh World Cup The Bobsleigh World Cup is an annual bobsleigh competitions. It has taken place since the 1984 Winter Olympics The 1984 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIV Olympic Winter Games ( Serbo-Croatian and Slovene: ''XIV. Zimske olimpijske ...

in the four-man event three times as well (2004–5, 2005–6, 2008–9). Prior to competing in

bobsleigh Bobsleigh or bobsled is a team winter sport that involves making timed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sleigh. International bobsleigh competitions are governed by the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Fe ...

, he competed in luge. Zubkov finished 20th in the men's singles event at the

1998 Winter Olympics The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the and commonly known as Nagano 1998 ( ja, 長野1998), was a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Japan, with some events taking place in th ...

in Nagano.

2014 Winter Olympics

2014 Sochi Winter Olympics , ''Zharkie. Zimnie. Tvoi'') , nations = 88 , events = 98 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , athletes = 2,873 , opening = 7 February 2014 , closing = 23 February 2014 , opened_by = President Vladimir Putin , cauldron = , stadium = Fisht Olympic ...

, he was the flag bearer of Russia for the Opening Ceremony. Zubkov won Gold in both Two-Man and Four-Man

Bobsleigh Bobsleigh or bobsled is a team winter sport that involves making timed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sleigh. International bobsleigh competitions are governed by the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Fe ...

. In the 2014 Sochi Olympics, Zubkov was coached by a former rival, Canadian

Pierre Lueders Pierre Fritz Lueders (born 26 September 1970) is a Canadian Olympic, world and World Cup champion bobsledder who competed from 1990 to 2010. He piloted both two-man and four-man bobsleigh, retiring after the 2010 Winter Olympics. He was named to ...

. Zubkov also paid a fee to borrow personal skids from the 2011 World Champion,

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 ...

Manuel Machata Manuel Machata (born 18 April 1984) is a German former bobsledder who competed from 2005 to 2015. Manuel Machata grew up in Ramsau near Berchtesgaden, Germany. He attended the CJD Christophorus high school in Berchtesgaden. After completing high ...

. Machata bought the skids for €29,000 in Switzerland, and had not qualified for the 2014 Winter Olympics. The 2014 Olympics saw Germany failing to win a bobsleigh medal at an Olympics for the first time since Innsbruck 1964. Machata did not inform German Bobsleigh Luge and Skeleton Federation of this loan and received a one-year competitive ban and fine of €5,000 (250,000 rubles) from the Federation.Christoph Becker (17 February 2014
Kein „olympiawürdiger“ Schlitten
''Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung''. Zubkov received the

Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" The Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" (russian: Орден «За заслуги перед Отечеством», ''Orden "Za zaslugi pered Otechestvom"'') is a state decoration of the Russian Federation. It was instituted on 2 March 1994 by ...

award 4th class with Russian President

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 ...

handing the state awards. In October 2014 Zubkov announced his retirement from the sport due to a long-term injury which prevented him from competing at the start of the 2014–15 season. In May 2016, Zubkov was named in a New York Times investigation of the state-sponsored steroid program in Russia. On 24 November 2017, he was found guilty of doping offenses and stripped of his medals from the 2014 Winter Olympics. In 2018 he appealed this decision in the Moscow City Court, which decided not to recognise the CAS decision in Russia. Despite no longer being an Olympic gold medallist, the Russian government has continued to classify him as an Olympic champion and pay him the lifetime Presidential stipend which is awarded to all Olympics medal winners. On 1 February 2018, the CAS removed the sanctions from

Alexey Negodaylo Alexey Aleksandrovich Negodaylo (russian: Алексей Александрович Негодайло; born 28 May 1989) is a Russian bobsledder who has competed since 2010. Career Negodaylo was part of a four-man Russian team who originally wo ...

and

Dmitry Trunenkov Dmitry Vyacheslavovich Trunenkov (russian: Дмитрий Вячеславович Труненков; born 19 April 1984) is a Russian bobsledder who has competed since the early 2000s. Career He won the silver medal in the four-man event at th ...

in bobsleigh, but upheld them on their teammates Alexandr Zubkov and

Alexey Voyevoda Alexey Ivanovich Voyevoda (russian: Алексей Иванович Воевода; born 9 May 1980) is a Russian bobsledder, professional armwrestler and politician. Bobsleigh A professional bobsleigher since 2002, Voyevoda won silver in the f ...

.https://www.tas-cas.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Media_Release__decision_RUS_IOC_.pdf

Personal life

His daughter, Elisaveta Zubkova, is a Russian

skeleton A skeleton is the structural frame that supports the body of an animal. There are several types of skeletons, including the exoskeleton, which is the stable outer shell of an organism, the endoskeleton, which forms the support structure inside ...

slider.

References

External links

Bobsleigh four-man Olympic medalists for 1924, 1932–56, and since 1964

*

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20080208132156/http://sports123.com/bob/mwc-4.html List of four-man bobsleigh World Cup champions since 1985
List of two-man bobsleigh World Cup champions since 1985
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zubkov, Alexandr 1974 births Living people Russian male bobsledders Russian male lugers Bobsledders at the 2002 Winter Olympics Bobsledders at the 2006 Winter Olympics Bobsledders at the 2010 Winter Olympics Bobsledders at the 2014 Winter Olympics Lugers at the 1998 Winter Olympics Olympic bobsledders of Russia Olympic lugers of Russia Olympic silver medalists for Russia Olympic bronze medalists for Russia People from Bratsk Olympic medalists in bobsleigh Medalists at the 2010 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2006 Winter Olympics Russian sportspeople in doping cases Doping cases in bobsleigh Competitors stripped of Winter Olympics medals Sportspeople from Irkutsk Oblast