Mikhail Botvinov

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Medal record
Mikhail Botvinov
Men's cross country skiing
Olympic Games
Silver	2002 Salt Lake City	30 km freestyle mass start
Bronze	2006 Turin	50 km freestyle mass start
World Championships
Gold	1999 Ramsau	4 x 10 km
Bronze	1993 Falun	4 x 10 km
Bronze	1999 Ramsau	50 km

Mikhail Botvinov (born November 17, 1967 in Lidinka, Russia, shown in the picture at left). is a Russian-born Austrian cross country skier who has competed since 1990 for both Russia and Austria. He won two medals at the Winter Olympics with a silver in the men's 30 km freestyle mass start event in 2002 and a bronze in the men's 50 km freestyle mass start in 2006 (Both for Austria). He also competed for the Unifed Team in the 1992 Winter Olympics and for Russia in the 1994 Winter Olympics.

Botvinov also won the 50 km event at the Holmenkollen ski festival in 1999, becoming the first Austrian to win the prestigious cross country event. He also won the Vasaloppet event in Sweden two years earlier.

His biggest successes were at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships, where he won three medals. He won a bronze in 1993 for Russia in the 4 x 10 km relay. In 1999, representing Austria, won a gold in the 4 x 10 km relay and a bronze in the 50 km.

Botvinov defected from Russia to Austria in 1996 and was forced to sit out both the 1996-97 FIS World Cup Season and the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano until he could his citizenship status clarified, but returned to cross country form in 1998. He also encountered controversy regarding blood doping in 2002, though Botvinov was cleared by the IOC on April 9, 2002.

[edit] External links

• Holmenkollen Winners since 1892
• FIS Profile
• skifaster.net April 9, 2002 article clearing Botvinov and Hoffman.

World champions in men's 4 x 10 km cross country relay

1933 Sweden Per Erik Hedlund, Sven Utterström, Nils-Joel Englund, & Hjalmar Bergström 1934 Finland Sulo Nurmela, Klaes Karppinen, Martti Lappalainen, & Veli Saarinen 1935 Finland Mikko Husu, Klaes Karppinen, Väinö Liikkanen, & Sulo Nurmela 1937 Norway Annar Ryen, Oskar Fredriksen, Sigurd Røen, & Lars Bergendahl 1938 Finland Jussi Kurikkala, Martti Lauronen, Pauli Pitkänen, & Klaes Karppinen 1939 Finland Pauli Pitkänen, Olavi Alakulppi, Eino Olkinuora, & Klaes Karppinen 1950 Sweden Nils Täpp, Karl-Erik Åström, Martin Lundström, & Enar Josefsson 1954 Finland August Kiuru, Tapio Mäkelä, Arvo Viitanen, & Veikko Hakulinen 1958 Sweden Sixten Jernberg, Lennart Larsson, Sture Grahn, & Per-Erik Larsson 1962 Sweden Lars Olsson, Sture Grahn, Sixten Jernberg, & Assar Rönnlund 1966 Norway Odd Martinsen, Harald Grønningen, Ole Ellefsæter, & Gjermund Eggen 1970 Soviet Union Vladimir Voronkov, Valeriy Tarakanov, Fyodor Simashev & Vyacheslav Vedenin 1974 East Germany Gerd Hessler, Dieter Meinel, Gerhard Grimmer & Gert-Dietmar Klause 1978 Sweden Sven-Åke Lundbäck, Christer Johannson, Tommy Linnby & Thomas Magnusson 1982 Norway Lars-Erik Eriksen, Ove Aunli, Pål Gunnar Mikkelsplass, & Oddvar Brå 1982 Soviet Union Vladimir Nikitin, Aleksandr Batyuk, Yuriy Burlakov, & Aleksandr Savyalov 1985 Norway Arild Monsen, Pål Gunnar Mikkelsplass, Tor Håkon Holte, & Ove Aunli 1987 Sweden Erik Östlund, Gunde Svan, Thomas Wassberg, & Torgny Mogren 1989 Sweden Christer Majbäck, Gunde Svan, Lars Håland, & Torgny Mogren 1991 Norway Øyvind Skaanes, Terje Langli, Vegard Ulvang, & Bjørn Dæhlie 1993 Norway Sture Sivertsen, Vegard Ulvang, Terje Langli, & Bjørn Dæhlie 1995 Norway Sture Sivertsen, Erling Jevne, Bjørn Dæhlie, & Thomas Alsgaard 1997 Norway Sture Sivertsen, Erling Jevne, Bjørn Dæhlie, & Thomas Alsgaard 1999 Austria Markus Gandler, Alois Stadlober, Mikhail Botvinov, & Christian Hoffman 2001 Norway Frode Estil, Odd-Bjørn Hjelmeset, Thomas Alsgaard, & Tor Arne Hetland 2003 Norway Anders Aukland, Frode Estil, Tore Ruud Hofstad, & Thomas Alsgaard 2005 Norway Odd-Bjørn Hjelmeset, Frode Estil, Lars Berger, & Tore Ruud Hofstad