Larisa Lazutina
Russia
Cross Country Skiing
Overall Ranks
#5 among Cross Country Skiers
#4 among Russian Olympians
#2 among Female Russian Olympians
#2 among Russian Cross Country Skiers
Olympic Results
1992
Relay - Gold
1994
Relay - Gold
1998
5 km - Gold
15 km - Silver
30 km - Bronze
Skiathlon - Gold
Relay - Gold
2002
15 km - Silver*
30 km - Gold*
Skiathlon - Silver*
Total
Events - 17
Gold - 6*
Silver - 4*
Bronze - 1
*Medals later rescinded due to failed drug test
Larisa Yevgenyevna Ptitsyna was born on June 1, 1965 in Kondopoga, USSR, which is now part of Russia. She first competed internationally in cross country skiing when she was 18 years old, and won her first World Championship medals in 1987, then won the World Cup in 1990. She made her first Olympic team in 1992, competing for the Unified Team shortly after the breakup of the Soviet Union.
She first competed in the 5 km race in Albertville, and finished in a respectable 7th place out of 62 skiers who finished the race, though she was 19 seconds short of the bronze medalist. The next day was the skiathlon, where they started in the order in which they finished the 5 km, based on how many seconds behind they finished, so Lazutina started 27 seconds after the leaders. She finished 8th in that race, more than a minute and a half behind the gold medalist.
Her next event was the relay, where she was asked to ski the third leg. Russia had fallen behind Norway at the midway point by 9 seconds, but Lazutina was able to overtake the Norwegian skier and handed off with a 2.5 second lead, which was stretched to more than 21 seconds by the end, which earned Lazutina her first Olympic gold.
Her final event was the 30 km, the first time women had competed at that distance in the Olympics. She came in 5th, but there was a gap of over 2 minutes between the medalists and the next group of skiers, which included Lazutina. She won her first individual world championship gold the next year in the 5 km race, just in time for another Olympic Games in 1994.
She was considered one of the favorites in the 15 km race in Lillehammer, but finished in 5th place, 47 seconds behind the medalists. She came in 6th in the 5 km, then moved up to 4th in the skiathlon, but still didn't have an individual medal. She also competed in the relay, running the second leg, where she was handed an 8 second lead, but fell behind Norway during her run, before Lyubov Yegorova took the lead back on the anchor leg and won the gold for Russia.
She won 4 gold medals at the 1995 World Championships, 3 in individual events, and had higher hopes for the 1998 Olympics. She started out with the 15km race, where she was a favorite, and she led almost the entire race, but she was passed on the homestretch by her teammate, Olga Danilova, who won the race by 5.6 seconds, leaving a silver for Lazutina, who was more than 51 seconds ahead of the bronze medalist.
Next she competed in the 5 km race, in the final time it would be contested at the Olympics, and she was expected to win, and she finally came through, winning the gold by 4.8 seconds, her first individual Olympic gold. That gave her a 5-second head start in the skiathlon, and she was able to hold her lead through that entire race, winning by 6.5 seconds to take her second gold of the games.
She skied the anchor leg in the relay that year, and by the time she took off, Russia had a huge lead, which she maintained for her entire leg, giving the Russians a gold medal by 24.5 seconds over the Norwegians. Her final event was the 30 km, where her teammate, Yuliya Chepalova, took the lead early, and led nearly the entire race, while Lazutina skied on her own a good distance behind. In the end, she won the bronze medal, more than a minute behind the silver medalist, but more than a second ahead of 4th place, giving her medals in all 5 events in Nagano.
She returned for her 4th Olympics in 2002 in Salt Lake City, starting again with the 15 km race. Chepalova had the lead early, then was passed by Stefania Belmondo of Italy, but her pole broke with just over 4 km to go, and Lazutina took the lead at that point. Belmondo got a replacement pole and made a hard push, and was able to pass Lazutina just before the finish, and Lazutina ended up with a silver medal.
In the 10 km, which was now the shortest race, Lazutina was in contention throughout, but ended up falling behind and finishing in 4th place, 12 seconds short of the bronze medal. The skiathlon was next, but was different this time, since the 5km was no longer a separate event. Instead, they held a 5km race to determine the order for the second half of the race, held the same afternoon. Lazutina finished #2 in both halves, taking home another silver medal.
Her final race was the 30 km, which had never been her strongest race, but this time, she took the lead early, and never gave it up, ending up almost 2 minutes ahead at the end as she won her first gold medal of the Salt Lake games. The next year, Olga Danilova, her teammate, was disqualified for using PEDs, and Lazutina moved up to gold in the skiathlon and bronze in the 10 km. Two months later, however, Lazutina was also disqualified for using the exact same substance, forfeiting all of her medals from the 2002 Games.
She was given a 2-year ban for the failed drug test, and decided to retire at that point. She went on to become a sports advisor to Putin after retiring from competition. Even though she was caught cheating, and there is a chance that she wasn't clean in 1998, her 5 medals in those games were very impressive, and she had 11 medals overall briefly, though only 7 are still recognized. Even with all of that, she had a long and strong Olympic career, and was one of the greatest Olympians of all time.
