Maxim Vylegzhanin – FasterSkier

Russia takes the Podium in Holmenkollen; Harvey 5th, Patterson 19th

Gretchen BurkholderMarch 9, 2019

Russian skier, Alexander Bolshunov made history today during the Holmenkollen 50-kilometer classic mass start race. With his victory, Bolshunov became the youngest person and the third Russian to win the storied Holmenkollen 50 k. Bolshunov finished today’s race in 2:23:49.8 hours. For Bolshunov, who comes off a World Championships during which he won four silver medals, this was his fourth World Cup win of the season. The victory on Saturday reinforced Men’s Results

News Racing World Cup

Saturday Race Rundown: Oslo, Östersund

FasterSkierMarch 9, 2019

FIS World Cup Oslo, Norway Holmenkollen 50 K Mass Start Classic Today’s podium at the men’s 50-kilometer mass start classic at Holmenkollen involved a tight group of skiers, many of them Russians and Norwegians. Of the top-11 skiers, five were from Russia, five from Norway with the lone wolf slotted in there, Alex Harvey from Canada. Russia swept the podium with twenty-two-year-old Alexander Bolshunov placing first in 2:23:49.8 hours. Maxim Vylegzhanin was second (+1.0), and...

General News Racing Results Tour de Ski

Back-to-Back Wins for Klæbo With Stage 6 Val di Fiemme 15 k Classic Victory

Gabby NaranjaJanuary 5, 2019

The final stages of the Tour de Ski (TdS) often bring drama: the attrition of some athletes leaving opportunity for others. Among the 45 male competitors who chose to start Saturday’s TdS Stage 6 of 7–a 15-kilometer classic mass start in Val di Fiemme, Italy–some may have been experiencing fatigue from racing the Tour’s previous five stages; others may have been finding their peak. For Italy’s Francesco de Fabiani, who started Saturday in bib number...

News Racing Tour de Ski

2018/2019 Tour de Ski Preview (Updated)

FasterSkierDecember 26, 2018

Beginning this Saturday in Toblach, Italy with a freestyle sprint is the 13th edition of the Tour de Ski (TdS). According to the International Ski Federation (FIS), over the course of seven stages the men will race 80.918 kilometers, the women 60.67 k. The TdS has become both a staple and a spectacle of the annual World Cup calendar. With a jam-packed series of races primacy is placed on both the ability to recover well...

General News Racing World Cup

World Cup Preview: #3 Russia

FasterSkierNovember 20, 2018

Welcome to FasterSkier’s World Cup Preview, where we check in with the top-10 teams from last year’s FIS Cross Country World Cup tour before the season starts. The World Cup begins with a classic sprint in Ruka, Finland on Nov. 24th. *** Russia Overall in Nations Cup Last Year: 3rd Women’s Ranking 2017/2018: 5th Men’s Ranking 2017/2018: 2nd Russians to Watch: For several years the attention grabbing fact about Russia was the morass of allegations...

Doping Opinion

More Than Medals: Clean Sport in the ‘Icarus’ Era (Op-Ed)

FasterSkierMarch 21, 2018

Editor’s Note: The following thoroughly cited opinion piece, prompted by the 2017 ‘Icarus’ documentary, was written by Maks Zechel, a 20-year-old Canadian cross-country skier who spent the 2017/2018 race season training abroad with Team Asker in Norway. Zechel is a regular contributor at FasterSkier, with his ongoing series: “Closing the Gap”. *** February 23, 2014 Sochi: a home Olympics and the opportunity of a lifetime. Russia, despite being one of the strongest skiing nations in the...

General Langrenn News Racing World Cup

Saturday Rundown: NCAA Champs; Holmenkollen 50 k; Kontiolahti Relays

FasterSkierMarch 10, 2018

NCAA Skiing Championships (Steamboat Springs, Colorado): 15/20 k freestyle mass starts On the fourth and final day of NCAA Skiing Championships at Howelsen Hill in Steamboat Springs, Katharine Ogden skied to her second-straight national title, Ian Torchia became an NCAA champion and the University of Denver (DU) won its 24th NCAA National Championship. Ogden, a Dartmouth College freshman, raced to a 38.4-second victory in the women’s 15-kilometer mass start, finishing in 43:22.0 minutes for her...

Doping General News Olympics Racing World Cup

Legkov and Seven Other Skiers’ Doping Bans Overturned by CAS (Updated)

Chelsea LittleFebruary 1, 2018

((Update: In accordance with the CAS decision outlined below, thewrote in a press release. “With respect to these 28 athletes, the appeals are upheld, the sanctions annulled and their individual results achieved in Sochi 2014 are reinstated.” The athletes whose results will be reinstated are: 50 k gold medalist and relay silver medalist Alexander Legkov 50 k silver medalist, team sprint and relay silver medalist Maxim Vylegzhanin, also fourth in the 30 k skiathlon relay...

News Racing

Kalla Continues to Dominate in Gällivare; Russia Sweeps Men’s 15 k Classic

Jason AlbertNovember 18, 2017

https://www.instagram.com/p/BbpElh6gxkx/?taken-by=kalla_87 Note: This article has been updated to include comments from Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla. For the second day in a row, Charlotte Kalla, a name synonymous with the yellow and blue of Sweden, stood atop the podium, placing first in the women’s 10-kilometer classic International Ski Federation (FIS) race on Saturday in Gällivare, Sweden. who was recently handed down a lifetime Olympic ban by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), did not start the race. Russia...

News Other Racing

Kalla, Belov Top Gällivare FIS Opener; Randall 8th, Kershaw 12th

Alex KochonNovember 17, 2017

Sweden’s Hanna Falk went 1-2 in Sweden’s season-opening International Ski Federation (FIS) race on Friday in Gällivare, with Kalla winning the women’s 5-kilometer freestyle by 8.8 seconds in 12:58.1 minutes. Falk, her teammate on the Swedish women’s team, placed second and Russia’s Yulia Belorukova took the third spot on the podium, 10.3 seconds out of first. The host nation had three in the top four, with Ida Ingemarsdotter in fourth (+16.1). Switzerland’s Nathalie von Siebenthal...

Doping News Olympics Racing World Cup

Lack of FIS Action on Banned Russians Causing Confusion: ‘It Shouldn’t Be This Difficult’

Chelsea LittleNovember 14, 2017

Note: On. Nov. 23, the day before the first World Cup race of the season, the the CAS decision that the provisional sanctions of the Russian cross-country athletes would expire on 31st October and can only be reinstated if there was more specific evidence of individual anti-doping rule violations.” In the CAS press release announcing the Oct. 31 deadline for FIS to bring a case against the skiers, the court only wrote that “a further provisional suspension may be imposed on the athletes...

Continental Cup Doping General News Racing World Cup

More Early Racing as Cologna, Kylloenen, and Van Der Graaf Get Wins

Chelsea LittleNovember 12, 2017

The World Cup season draws ever-closer as season-opening races continued this weekend in Sweden, Finland, and Switzerland. In Muonio, Finland, a long weekend of racing wrapped up with 10 and 15 k skate races. Finland’s Anne Kylloenen took the win in the women’s 10 k, besting Emilie Kristoffersen of Norway by 8.2 seconds. Kylloenen’s national-team teammates Laura Mononen and Aino-Kaisa Saarinen took third (+14.0) and fourth (+17.1), respectively. Merete Myrseth, a Norwegian skier who competed...

Continental Cup Doping General News Racing World Cup

Finns, Russians, Norwegians & Swede Nab Early-Season Wins; Vylegzhanin Competes Despite IOC Ban

Chelsea LittleNovember 11, 2017

FIS races are already being contested in Finland and Sweden this weekend, with most top Scandinavian racers sitting out but a few national-team members and others picking up their first victories of the season. The competitions in Muonio, Finland, drew the most diverse field, including racers from Norway, Russia, Japan, China, Canada, Estonia, and Slovakia, among other countries. In the men’s classic sprint on Friday, the home team got a win from Ristomatti Hakola; he...

Doping News Olympics Racing World Cup

Four More Russian Skiers, Vylegzhanin Included, Disqualified From 2014 Olympics

Chelsea LittleNovember 9, 2017

After were identified in Valbe said. With Legkov’s disqualification, Russia had already lost a gold medal in the 50 k and a silver medal in the 4 x 10 k relay. Vylegzhanin had finished second in the 50 k, but with him now disqualified as well, there could be a substantial medal re-allocation. Third-place Ilia Chernousov, also from Russia but not implicated the McLaren report, would stand to gain gold. Fourth-place Martin Johnsrud Sundby of...

Doping General News Olympics Racing World Cup

FIS on Allowing Suspended Russian Skiers to Rejoin National Team: It’s ‘Special Circumstances’

Chelsea LittleJune 2, 2017

In part of the media storm following the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s response to an appeal by six Russian cross-country skiers, Russian Ski Federation President Elena Valbe announcing the suspensions on Dec. 22, 2016. In cases without a positive drug test, sports federations are allowed to implement an “optional provisional suspension”. This is what FIS put in place on the six Russian skiers, whose samples were allegedly tampered with at the 2014 Olympics. Fussek said...

Doping General News Olympics Racing World Cup

CAS Gives FIS Until October to Bring Doping Case Against Russian Skiers

Chelsea LittleMay 29, 2017

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) did one thing that the Russian skiers wanted: they issued a decision of some sort quickly, far more quickly than is typical in doping appeals. Alexander Legkov, Maxim Vylegzhanin, Alexey Petukhov, Evgenia Shapovalova, Julia Ivanova, and Evgeniy Belov han independent investigation commissioned by the World Anti-Doping Agency. In the six months since the provisional suspensions were enacted, FIS has not formally brought Anti-Doping Rule Violations (ARDV’s) against the six...

Doping News Olympics Racing World Cup

Suspended Vylegzhanin Won Regional Championship, Violating FIS Rules

Chelsea LittleJanuary 17, 2017

One result of provisionally suspended six Russian cross-country skiers while it investigates possible doping at the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia. Among the six was Maxim Vylegzhanin, who won silver medals in the team sprint, relay and 50-kilometer mass start in Sochi. Although Vylegzhanin has not been cleared by FIS, he competed in two regional championship races over the weekend, winning both. In the 15 k skate, for instance, he beat Evgeny Vakhrushev by...

Doping News Racing World Cup

FIS Denies Appeal by Suspended Russian Skiers For Tour de Ski

Chelsea LittleDecember 30, 2016

The International Ski Federation (FIS) has denied an appeal by six Russian cross-country skiers suspended under the suspicion of doping. identified at least 34 skiers mentioned in the McLaren report, an investigation into systematic doping in Russia. Content of Legkov and Belov Appeal Legkov and Belov, in German and writes on its website. Urine contains substances excreted from the body, while blood contains those integrated into the body. Testing agencies may not even test for...

Doping News Olympics Racing World Cup

The Curious Case of Legkov and the 33 Other Skiers in the McLaren Report (Updated)

Chelsea LittleDecember 19, 2016

Note: this article has been updated to include more accurate information about Alexander Legkov’s participation at 2014 Russian Championships. At least 34 skiers are referred to in the World Anti-Doping Agency’s McLaren report, including one by name: Alexander Legkov, the 2014 Olympic champion in the 50 kilometer skate. Throughout the report’s evidentiary documents, names of athletes were scrubbed and replaced with alpha-numeric codes. But in one set of emails leaked by Grigory Rodchenkov, Legkov’s name is...

General News Testing

FIS Treads Carefully But Confidently in Latest Doping Scandal

Chelsea LittleMay 18, 2016

“There needs to be an investigation by WADA,” International Ski Federation (FIS) Secretary General Sarah Lewis told FasterSkier in a phone interview on Monday. “FIS totally supports it and we have already expressed that anything we can provide, we will do. And it needs to be done [quickly], but carefully.”

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