Skier Bolshunov fell at the Russian Cup stage and finished the race on foot

On January 19, three-time Olympic champion Alexander Bolshunov fell during the skiathlon at the fifth stage of the Russian Cross-Country Skiing Cup and finished on foot.

At first the athlete was in the group of leaders, but because of the incident he took only 23rd place.

What caused Bolshunov's fall almost a kilometer before the finish line is still unknown, writes Sport-Express. His gap from the winner amounted to 35.4 seconds.

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Earlier, on December 26 last year, skier Sergei Ardashev took first place in the mass start 50 km freestyle at the Russian Cross-Country Championships. Bolshunov took second place at that time.