Larissa LAZUTINA

Larisa Lazutina followed in the skisteps of Galina Kulakova, Yelena Välbe, and Raisa Smetanina as the greatest Russian female cross-country skier. She won 11 championships at the Olympics and World Championships, trailing only the 16 won by Välbe. These include six relay titles – Olympics in 1992, 1994, and 1998, and Worlds in 1993, 1995, and 1997. In 1998 at Nagano, she put on her greatest performance, winning medals in all five events open to women, with three gold (5 km., pursuit, relay), a silver in the 15 km., and a bronze in the 30 km. Her individual World Championships titles came in the 1993 and 1995 5 km., the 1995 15 km., and the 1995 pursuit. She also won silver in the 1993 pursuit and bronzes in the 1987 20 km. and the 2001 10 km. Lazutina was the World Cup champion in 1989-90 and 1997-98, while taking bronzes in 1994-95, 1995-96, 1999-2000 and 2000-01. Lazutina was awarded the Holmenkollen medal in 1998. Lazutina also competed at the 2002 Olympics, but she was disqualified from the 2002 Olympics due to positive drug test and was banned from competition for a period of two years. The ban also ended her competitive career and she has later worked as an adviser of sports matters to the Russian President. Her husband Gennady Lazutin was also a cross country skier, who competed at the 1994 Olympics.