Olympic champion in the ski relay, Sergey Ustyugov, won the 70 km freestyle race held in Monchegorsk on April 16 as part of the Russian championship.
The 31-year-old skier representing the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug covered the distance in 2 hours 34 minutes 55.3 seconds. At the finish line, Moscow’s Dmitry Kondrashov lost by 4.1 seconds. Tatarstan representative Sergey Volkov (+47,5) took the third place.
The 70km race was the final start of the Russian cross country ski championship program.
Recall that in the spring the International Ski Federation (FIS) decided to exclude Russian and Belarusian athletes from international competitions until the end of last season. On October 22, this decision was extended for the 2022/23 season.
At a meeting of the executive committee of the International Olympic Committee on March 28, it was recommended to allow the Russians to have a neutral status, if the athletes are not actively engaged in supporting hostilities. Athletes representing law enforcement and armed forces will not be allowed to compete.
Elena Vyalbe, former President of the Russian Ski Racing Federation (FLGR) judicial Traitors to athletes who would accept the terms of the IOC.