Alexey Poltoranin

Alexey Poltoranin
Poltoranin at the 2014 Winter Olympics
Country	Kazakhstan
Born	(1987-04-29) 29 April 1987 (age 37) Ridder, Kazakh SSR, Soviet Union
Height	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
World Cup career
Seasons	14 – (2005, 2007–2019)
Indiv. starts	184
Indiv. podiums	27
Indiv. wins	11
Team starts	20
Team podiums	1
Team wins	0
Overall titles	0 – (4th in 2013)
Discipline titles	0
Medal record Men's cross-country skiing Representing  Kazakhstan World Championships 2013 Val di Flemme Team sprint 2013 Val di Flemme 50 km classical U23 World Championships 2008 Mals 15 km classical 2009 Praz de Lys-Sommand 15 km freestyle Junior World Championships 2004 Stryn 4 × 10 km relay 2007 Tarvisio 10 km freestyle Asian Winter Games 2011 Astana-Almaty Individual sprint 2011 Astana-Almaty Team sprint 2011 Astana-Almaty 30 km pursuit 2011 Astana-Almaty 4 × 10 km relay 2007 Changchun Individual sprint 2011 Astana-Almaty 10 km classical
Updated on 20 November 2021.

Alexey Yurevich Poltoranin (Kazakh: Алексей Юрьевич Полтаранин, born 29 April 1987) is a Kazakh cross-country skier who has competed at the international senior level since 2004. He has three World Cup wins, one in 2010 and two in 2013. In the 2013 World Championship in Val di Fiemme he won two bronze medals. Most of his best results are in the classic technique.

At the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2019 Poltoranin was one of five athletes caught doping by Bundeskriminalamt in a police raid in Seefeld, Austria.^[1] He was arrested before the start of the 15 kilometre classical race. He admitted to using blood doping.^[2]

His wife is biathlete Olga Poltoranina.

Athletic career

World Championships and Olympics

Poltoranin competed at the 2006 and 2010 Winter Olympics, the World Ski Championships in 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2013.

Poltoranin finished fifth in both the individual and team sprint at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.^[3][4]

In the 2013 World Championship in Val di Fiemme, Poltoranin won two bronze medals. On the first day, Poltoranin competed in the classic sprint where he qualified to the semifinals, but he broke his ski poles at the start. On the next day, Alexey Poltoranin and Nikolay Chebotko won bronze at the men's team sprint.^[5] On the last day of the championship, he took bronze in the men's 50 km classic and finished after Johan Olsson and Dario Cologna.^[6] His other World Championship results include sixth in the team sprint in 2011 and seventh places at the 4×10 km relay in 2007 and the team sprint in 2009.

World Cup

Poltoranin and Emil Jönsson at Royal Palace Sprint in Stockholm. 20 March 2013

The 2004/05 season was Alexey Poltoranin's first in the World Cup. First World Cup stage, where he competed, was 4 × 10 km relay in Gällivare in 2004, however he competed only in two races this season. Poltoranin claimed his first World Cup victory at the 15 kilometer classic race at Davos in 2010 and took that victory ahead of Alexander Legkov and Lukáš Bauer. For Kazakhstan, the victory of Poltoranin was the first win since March 1998 when Vladimir Smirnov won the 30 km in Lahti.^[7] In the 2011–12 season, he made only one victory, when he won Nordic Opening's 15 km classical handicap in Kuusamo. On 17 December 2011 he placed third at 15 kilometer classic in Rogla.^[8]

The 2013–14 season was more successful for Poltoranin, than previous years. He began his world cup run on 11 November 2012 in Gällivare, where he reached his first season podium, finishing second in 15 km freestyle race.^[9] On 2 December 2012 he took third at Nordic Opening's 15 km classical handicap start in Kuusamo crossing the line 3.4 seconds behind Petter Northug.^[10] He finished Nordic Opening 3rd overall.^[11] Poltoranin won his first ever Tour de Ski stage in the 5 km classic individual in Toblach as Petter Northug finished second to maintain his overall lead.^[12] He also won stage 6 in Val di Fiemme and finished 11th overall in general classification.^[13] On 19 January 2013 Poltoranin won the men's 15-kilometre classical-style mass start race in a sprint finish, clocking 37 minutes, 11.6 seconds to beat Russia's Alexander Bessmertnykh by .01 seconds.^[14] On 6 February 2013 he won the 1.5 k classic sprint in Davos. In the final run in Poltoranin coasted in comfortably with a time of 3:25.7, while Cologna narrowly out-sprinted Pellegrino for a second-place finish to please the home crowd. This was Poltoranin's first sprint victory on the World Cup.^[15][16] He placed second in last two stages of the season in Lahti and Drammen, where in both races was defeated by Petter Northug.^[17][18] Poltoranin finished 2012–13 World Cup season 4th overall with 995 points.^[19]

Cross-country skiing results

All results are sourced from the International Ski Federation (FIS).^[20]

Olympic Games

Year	Age	15 km   individual	30 km   skiathlon	50 km   mass start	Sprint	4 × 10 km   relay	Team   sprint
2006	18	39	—	—	—	—	—
2010	22	14	—	27	5	11	5
2014	26	9	15	—	—	—	8
2018	30	—	—	15	17	8	15

World Championships

• 2 medals – (2 bronze)

Year	Age	15 km   individual	30 km   skiathlon	50 km   mass start	Sprint	4 × 10 km   relay	Team   sprint
2007	19	—	32	—	17	7	—
2009	21	16	49	—	45	10	7
2011	23	31	—	—	—	13	6
2013	25	—	—	Bronze	11	13	Bronze
2015	27	—	21	7	35	13	—
2017	29	7	—	—	—	9	17
2019	31	DNS	11	—	—	—	—

World Cup

Season standings

Season	Age	Discipline standings			Ski Tour standings
		Overall	Distance	Sprint	Nordic Opening	Tour de Ski	World Cup Final	Ski Tour Canada
2005	17	NC	NC	—	—	—	—	—
2007	19	150	99	—	—	—	—	—
2008	20	107	63	NC	—	45	43	—
2009	21	82	52	109	—	—	—	—
2010	22	69	54	57	—	—	—	—
2011	23	34	31	34	15	—	—	—
2012	24	26	22	42	4	—	39	—
2013	25	4	4	6		11	DNF	—
2014	26	12	6	18	18	DNF	DNF	—
2015	27	8	7	70	11	7	—	—
2016	28	11	16	33	19	5	—	12
2017	29	72	49	74	—	—	—	—
2018	30	7	6	63	11	4	DNF	—
2019	31	54	31	NC	36	DNF	—	—

Individual podiums

• 11 victories – (4 WC, 7 SWC)
• 27 podiums – (14 WC, 13 SWC)

No.	Season	Date	Location	Race	Level	Place
1	2010–11	26 November 2010	Rukatunturi, Finland	1.4 km Sprint C	Stage World Cup	2nd
2		11 December 2010	Davos, Switzerland	15 km Individual C	World Cup	1st
3	2011–12	27 November 2011	Rukatunturi, Finland	15 km Pursuit C	Stage World Cup	1st
4		17 December 2011	Rogla, Slovenia	15 km Mass Start C	World Cup	3rd
5	2012–13	24 November 2012	Gällivare, Sweden	15 km Individual F	World Cup	2nd
6		30 November – 2 December 2012	Nordic Opening	Overall Standings	World Cup	3rd
7		4 January 2013	Toblach, Italy	5 km Individual C	Stage World Cup	1st
8		5 January 2013	Val di Fiemme, Italy	15 km Mass Start C	Stage World Cup	1st
9		19 January 2013	La Clusaz, France	15 km Mass Start C	World Cup	1st
10		16 February 2013	Davos, Switzerland	1.5 km Sprint C	World Cup	1st
11		10 March 2013	Lahti, Finland	15 km Individual C	World Cup	2nd
12		13 March 2013	Drammen, Norway	1.3 km Sprint C	World Cup	2nd
13	2013–14	7 December 2013	Lillehammer, Norway	15 km Individual C	World Cup	2nd
14		21 December 2013	Asiago, Italy	1.65 km Sprint C	World Cup	2nd
15		1 January 2014	Lenzerheide, Switzerland	15 km Mass Start C	Stage World Cup	1st
16		19 January 2014	Szklarska Poręba, Poland	15 km Mass Start C	World Cup	3rd
17	2014–15	7 December 2014	Lillehammer, Norway	15 km Pursuit C	Stage World Cup	2nd
18		7 January 2015	Toblach, Italy	10 km Individual C	Stage World Cup	1st
19		10 January 2015	Val di Fiemme, Italy	15 km Mass Start C	Stage World Cup	2nd
20		8 March 2015	Lahti, Finland	15 km Individual C	World Cup	2nd
21	2015–16	5 January 2016	Oberstdorf, Germany	1.2 km Sprint C	Stage World Cup	3rd
22		6 January 2016		15 km Mass Start C	Stage World Cup	1st
23		9 January 2016	Val di Fiemme, Italy	15 km Mass Start C	Stage World Cup	3rd
24	2017–18	17 December 2017	Toblach, Italy	15 km Pursuit C	World Cup	3rd
25		31 December 2017	Lenzerheide, Switzerland	15 km Individual C	Stage World Cup	2nd
26		6 January 2018	Val di Fiemme, Italy	15 km Mass Start C	Stage World Cup	1st
27		21 January 2018	Planica, Slovenia	15 km Individual C	World Cup	1st

Team podiums

• 1 podium – (1 TS)

No.	Season	Date	Location	Race	Level	Place	Teammate
1	2013–14	22 December 2013	Asiago, Italy	6 × 1.65 km Team Sprint C	World Cup	2nd	Chebotko

Other career highlights

Asian Winter Games

2007 – Changchun 2nd, freestyle sprint

2011 – Almaty 1st, classical sprint

2011 – Almaty 1st, team freestyle sprint (with Chebotko)

2011 – Almaty 3rd, 10 km classical individual

2011 – Almaty 1st, 30 km classical mass start

2011 – Almaty 1st, 4 × 10 km relay (with Cherepanov / Chebotko / Velichko)

See also

• FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2013

References

1. "Nine arrests after raids in connection with the World Ski Championships". Sportschau. February 27, 2019. Retrieved February 28, 2019.
2. "Nordic skiing: Blood doping scandal rocks sport as five athletes arrested". BBC. 2 March 2019. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
3. "Cross Country Skiing at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games: Men's Sprint". Sports-Reference.com. February 17, 2010. Archived from the original on April 18, 2020. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
4. "Cross Country Skiing at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games: Men's Team Sprint". Sports-Reference.com. February 17, 2010. Archived from the original on April 18, 2020. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
5. "Kazakhstan skiers Alexey Poltoranin, Nikolay Chebotko win bronze at World Championship". Inform.kz. February 25, 2013. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
6. Alex Matthews (March 3, 2013). "Olsson Skis Race of His Life for World Championships 50 k Gold". FasterSkier.com. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
7. "Bjoergen and Poltaranin are the winners in Davos". DavosNordic.ch. December 11, 2010. Archived from the original on December 12, 2013. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
8. Audrey Mangan (December 17, 2011). "Northug Emerges Victor in Close Rogla Finish". FasterSkier.com. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
9. Audrey Mangan (November 25, 2012). "Kazakhstan skier Alexey Poltoranin becomes the second in the cross-country World Cup races". BNews.kz. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
10. "Northug Stymies Russian Charge, Chase Pack to Win Kuusamo Pursuit". FasterSkier.com. December 2, 2012. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
11. Audrey Mangan (November 11, 2012). "Bjoergen and Sundby win first world cup races in Gällivare". Fisher Sports. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
12. "Poltoranin wins maiden Tour de Ski stage". Eurosport. January 4, 2013. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
13. "2013 FIS Tour de Ski: Stage 6: Poltoranin wins". Universal Sports. January 8, 2013. Archived from the original on December 12, 2013. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
14. "Canadians finish well back in men's 15K classical-style race". CBC.ca. January 19, 2013. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
15. "Kowalczyk and Poltoranin cruise to Davos sprint wins". Eurosport. February 16, 2013. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
16. Matti Rowe (February 16, 2013). "Poltoranin Claims First Classic Sprint Victory in Davos". FasterSkier.com. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
17. "Petter Northug, Justyna Kowalczyk win cross-country World Cup races in Finland". Times Colonist. March 10, 2013. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
18. "Northug Nips Poltoranin in Drammen Classic Sprint". FasterSkier.com. March 13, 2013. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
19. "2012–13 FIS Cross-Country World Cup standing results". FIS. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
20. "POLTORANIN Alexey". FIS-Ski. International Ski Federation. Retrieved 8 February 2018.

External links

• Alexey Poltoranin at the International Ski and Snowboard Federation
• Alexey Poltoranin at Olympics.com
• Alexey Poltoranin at Olympedia (archive)
• Alexey Poltoranin at the Fischersports