Nikita Kryukov
Nikita Kriukov | |
---|---|
Full name | Nikita Valeryevich Kriukov |
Born |
Dzerzhinsky, Russia | May 30, 1985
Height | 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) |
Ski club | Sdusor 81 |
World Cup career | |
Seasons | 2006– |
Individual wins | 3 |
Indiv. podiums | 13 |
Nikita Valeryevich Kriukov (Russian: Никита Валерьевич Крюков; born 30 May 1985) is a Russian cross country skier who has competed since 2005. He is a sprint specialist who has won an Olympic Gold and Olympic silver, three World Championship gold medals, six World cup gold medals (three stage races, three individual World Cups), all in the sprint events. He is arguably the fastest skier ever when it comes to double-poling on the flat in sprints. He generally favors classic skiing and classic sprints over freestyle, but as he showed in winning the team sprint in the 2013 World Championship, in Val di Fiemme, he is also very strong in the freestyle sprint.
The highlights of his career were at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics where he beat his teammate from behind with a late closing sprint, in a photo finish that took minutes to determine. And at the 2013 World Championships where he won golds in both the individual classic sprint and the team freestyle sprint. A late fall by another team that impeded his closing 200 metres likely cost him a 2nd Olympic Gold in the Team Sprint in Sochi where he took silver.
He plans the 2018 Olympics to be his final major event appearance.
Career highlights
- Olympic Games Medals
- 2010 – 2010 Vancouver 1st, classical sprint
- FIS Nordic World Ski Championships Medals
- 2011 – Oslo 3rd, team sprint (with Panzhinskiy)
- 2013 – Val di Fiemme 1st, classical sprint
- 2013 – Val di Fiemme 1st, team sprint (with Petukhov)
- 2015 – Falun 2nd, team sprint (with Petukhov)
- 2017 - Lahti 1st, team sprint (with Ustiugov)
- World Cup podiums
- 2009 – Kuusamo 3rd, classical sprint
- 2010 – Otepää 3rd, classical sprint
- 2010 – Rybinsk 3rd, freestyle sprint
- 2011 – Otepää 3rd, classical sprint
- 2011 – Düsseldorf 2nd, team sprint (with Petukhov)
- 2012 – Lahti 3rd, classical sprint
- 2012 – Quebec 2nd, team sprint (with Petukhov)
- 2012 – Canmore 3rd, freestyle sprint
- 2013 – Liberec 3rd, team sprint (with Petukhov)
- 2013 – Drammen 3rd, classical sprint
- 2013 – Asiago 1st, classical sprint
- 2014 – Nove Mesto 1st, team sprint (with Vylegzhanin)
- 2016 – Stockholm 1st, classical sprint
- Stage World Cup podiums
- 2010 – Stockholm 1st, classical sprint (WC Final)
- 2011 – Kuusamo 2nd, classical sprint (Nordic Opening)
- 2011 – Oberstdorf 1st, classical sprint (Tour de Ski)
- 2012 – Kuusamo 1st, classical sprint (Nordic Opening)
- 2013 – Stockholm 3rd, classical sprint (WC Final)