Mikhail Botvinov

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Medal record
Center
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 competed from 1990 to 2007 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 with his teammate Christian Hoffmann regarding blood doping in 2002, though both cleared by the IOC on April 9, 2002.

Botvinov retired after the 2006-07 World Cup season. [1]

[edit] Note

  1. ^ FIS Newsflash 122. April 11, 2007.

[edit] External links

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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 - Juho '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, Valery Tarakanov, Fyodor Simashev & Vyacheslav Vedenin * 1974 East Germany - Gerd Hessler, Dieter Meinel, Gerhard Grimmer & Gert-Dietmar Klause * 1978 Sweden - Sven-Åke Lundbäck, Christer Johansson, Tommy Limby & Thomas Magnusson * 1982 Norway - Lars-Erik Eriksen, Ove Aunli, Pål Gunnar Mikkelsplass, & Oddvar Brå and 1982 Soviet Union - Vladimir Nikitin, Alexander Batyuk, Yuriy Burlakov, & Alexander Zavyalov * 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 Hoffmann * 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 * 2007 Norway - Eldar Rønning, Odd-Bjørn Hjelmeset, Lars Berger, & Petter Northug
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