Maxim Vylegzhanin | |
---|---|
Full name | Maxim Mikhailovich Vylegzhanin |
Born |
Sharkan, Udmurt ASSR, Soviet Union |
18 October 1982
Height | 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in) |
Ski club | Dinamo |
World Cup career | |
Seasons | 2005– |
Individual wins | 2 |
Indiv. podiums | 8 |
Maxim Mikhailovich Vylegzhanin (Russian: Максим Михайлович Вылегжанин) (born 18 October 1982) is a Russian cross country skier who has competed since 2002. He is 174 cm tall. His first World Cup start was on 22 January 2005 in Pragelato, Italy. He won a silver medal in the 50 km event (time: 1:59:38:8 – average speed 25,1 km/h) at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009 in Liberec.
Vylegzhanin's best individual World Cup finish was first place in the 30 km in La Clusaz in December 2010. He has a total of four victories ranging from pursuit to 50 km between 2007 and 2008, all in lesser events. He also finished eighth in the 4 x 10 km relay at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
Vylegzhanin was not allowed to start in FIS races due to high hemoglobin levels several times, for example during the FIS Tour de Ski 2009–2010 after a no-notice doping test in Tauplitz while he was training with the Russian team. At the end of December 2010 Vylegzhanin again was not allowed to start in the FIS Tour de Ski. This happened some days after his victory over Petter Northug (Norway) on the finishline in La Clusaz (France). Commenting on this case, FIS race director Jürg Capol (Switzerland) pointed out that it is possible for athletes to register exceptionally high hemoglobin levels with the FIS, if caused by genetic reasons. This however was not the case with Vylegzhanin. About 8 weeks after this occurrence, Vylegzhanin is taking part in the FIS World Championships 2011 in Oslo (Norway) placing second with Petter Northug (Norway) winning the race and Russian Ilia Chernousov placing third in the 30 km. He won once again a silver medal in the 50 km on 6 March 2011, finishing just behind Petter Northug.
In December 2016, FIS provisionally suspended six Russian cross-country skiers linked to doping violations during the 2014 Winter Olympics, including Maxim Vylegzhanin.