Alexander Gennadiyevich Legkov (Russian: Алекса́ндр Геннáдьевич Легков;[1] born 7 May 1983) is a retired Russian cross-country skier who competed internationally between 2002 and 2017. He has five individual World Cup victories including one Tour de Ski title,[2] as well as gold and silver medals at the 2014 Winter Olympics.
Biography
Legkov participated in three Winter Olympic Games (2006, 2010, 2014).[3] Legkov finished in fourth place after a strong final push to catch then-leader Johan Olsson of Sweden at the 2010 Winter Olympics' 30 km double pursuit. Olsson finished in third place with Legkov 1.2 seconds behind. Legkov's next best result was eight in the 4 × 10 km relay at the 2010 Games in Vancouver.
In 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi Legkov won the gold medal in the 50 km freestyle, and the silver medal in the 4 × 10 km relay.
He earned a silver in the 4 × 10 km relay and finished twice in sixth place (15 km, 15 km + 15 km double pursuit) at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championship in Sapporo in 2007.
On 6 April 2018, Legkov announced his retirement from sport during his participation at the competition "Sports Elite" in Khanty-Mansiysk.[5]
Doping case
In December 2016, the International Ski Federation provisionally suspended six Russian cross-country skiers linked to doping violations during the 2014 Winter Olympics, including Legkov.[6] In November 2017, Legkov was disqualified for doping offences by the International Olympic Committee, and his 2014 Olympic results were annulled.[7][8] In February 2018, the international Court of Arbitration for Sport
reinstated Legkov's results in Sochi 2014, including two medals, and annulled disqualification imposed by IOC. CAS concluded that there were no sufficient evidence that Legkov had broken anti-doping rules.[9][10]
On 19 January 2019 the IOC's appeal of Legkov's case was rejected by the Swiss Federal Tribunal,[11] which according to the Legkov's lawyer means that he had been "finally cleared of the accusation of doping at 2014".[12]
Political career
On 27 March 2016, Legkov joined the United Russia party and declared his desire to become a participant in the party's primaries for the Moscow Oblast Duma.[13] In May 2016, he won the United Russia primaries.[14] On 18 September 2016, he was elected as a deputy of the Moscow Oblast Duma in the Sergiyev Posad electoral district No. 21. He is a member of the Committee on Youth and Sports Affairs.[14]
Since 2018, Legkov has been a deputy of the United Russia faction of the 6th Moscow Oblast Duma. He is Deputy Chairman of the Moscow Oblast Duma Committee on Youth and Sports Affairs.
