Alexander Bolshunov threw his poles to the back when he left his box after changing equipment in the transition area after the first 15 kilometers of the skiathlon at the Beijing Olympics on Sunday. 

The 25-year-old Russian dominated the 30-kilometer skiathlon and won the brutal race at the Zhangjiakou arena by 1 minute and 11 seconds to the national team colleague Denis Spitsov in second place. 

Ahead by nearly two minutes heading out on the last lap, Bolshunov literally strolled to the finish enjoying the scenery and the sunshine, smiling and bowing to the few spectators along the course.    

Broke the rules 
According to Russia’s Championat, rumors of Norway preparing a formal protest on Bolshunov started circulating a couple of hours after the race. 

During the race, Bolshunov had broken the rules: He had thrown his poles behind him in the transition area. One of the poles landed inside Bolshunov’s box, but the other fell partly into the next box, across the tail of one of Johannes Høsflot Klæbo’s ski. 

However, when the Norwegian came in to the transition area a minute and a half after Bolshunov had left, he just moved Bolshunov’s pole out of the way, made his exchange and embarked on his skate leg. Klæbo clocked out of the transition 1:39.8 behind Bolshunov. At the finish line, Klæbo was more than nine minutes back in 40th place. 

Potential consequences
Dropping gear outside the designated box in a skiathlon is against the rules. But is the infraction serious enough to warrant a DQ and strip Bolshunov of his Olympic gold medal? 

Russian Technical Delegate Valery Makht explains: 

“What he did was against the rules. When we reviewed the situation, we noticed it. Bolshunov has to keep his gear inside his box. When he started to switch skis, the pole was across the Norwegian’s box. Alexander corrected this, but the pole remained partly in Klæbo’s box. But Bolshunov couldn’t see that when headed out; he thought he had placed the pole in his own box,” Makht says. 

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Grounds for protest
But because the episode is against the rules, the Norwegians have the right to file a formal protest. However, it would be difficult to prove that Bolshunov intentionally tried to obstruct his competitor. 

“When the jury reviews the case, they will have to determine whether he did it deliberately. If Bolshunov says he didn’t notice, that he did it by accident, it will be hard to prove that he specifically threw the pole into Klæbo’s box. Bolshunov didn’t get any advantages. The simplest and most logical outcome, is a sanction in the form of an oral warning. In the worst case, he will get a written warning,” Makht says.

He doubts that this will result in a disqualification.

“Demanding Bolshunov be DQ’ed would just create bad blood and make it look like the Norwegians are out to get him. But I also think there’s about an 80 percent chance that the jury would just reject the protest,” Makht concludes. 

So far, it appears that the Norwegians have decided not to file a protest. 

The next cross-country event at the 2022 Olympics is the skate sprint, which takes place Tuesday, February 8. Start lists, results and event details for the sprint are posted here. 

FACTS: 2022 OLYMPICS 
What: XXIV Olympic Winter Games (24th edition)
Beijing 2022 – All you need to know 
Where: Beijing, China
Biathlon, cross-country skiing and Nordic events will take place at the Zhangjiakou arena, situated at and above 1650 meters above sea level. 
When: February 4 to 20, 2022
What happens when: 
Complete schedule for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games, all sports. 
Who: 53 cross-country teams compete at the 2022 Olympics, each fielding from 1 to 16 athletes. 
All the cross-country ski teams to the Beijing Winter Olympics 
How: Where to watch the Olympics – World Wide

Results, start lists and competition details for all events at the 2022 Beijing Olympics will be posted here

Beijing Olympics homepage