What Happens to Alexander Bolshunov & Co Now?

by Ingeborg Scheve • 07.03.2022
Alexander Bolshunov’s sponsor Rossignol is hoping that the whole industry will adopt a common policy on how to deal with their Russian and Belarus athletes.
Alexander Bolshunov’s sponsor Rossignol is hoping that the whole industry will adopt a common policy on how to deal with their Russian and Belarus athletes.

Rossignol, who sponsors three-time Olympian Alexander Bolshunov, has terminated all commerce with Russia and Belarus following Russia’s invasion and the war in the Ukraine.

“For right now, the situation is that we have terminated all activity in Russia and Belarus. There is nothing moving from the west into these countries now,” CEO of Rossignol Norway Øyvind Mobakken says to ProXCskiing.com. 

Rossignol terminated all trade and commercial activity with Russia immediately after Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine on February 24, in accordance with the international sanctions and penalties imposed on Russia in response to the invasion into the Ukraine. 

Worried about the humans
Mobakken is worried about the future and what happens next. 

Rossignol’s roster of contract racers includes Alexander Bolshunov of Russia, who earned five medals in the Beijing Olympics in February, sprint specialist Alexander Terentev and Khristina Matsokina. Bolshunov is 25 years old, Terentev is 22 and Matsokina is 23 years old. 

“The whole situation is just sad and complicated. We have to deal with reality, and currently the world is what it is. We have terminated all activity and commerce with Russia. But it’s not like we cut off all ties to our athletes after one week. They were still racing at the World Cup in Lahti just a week ago,” says Mobakken, and continues: 

See the rosters of sponsored athletes by brand at the end of the story

“We are all wondering whether this will last another week, or if it will last a long time. I hope it won’t last a long time. But the head of our racing service, who is currently in Holmenkollen working the World Cup there, thinks that this will just escalate into a really big and long-lasting conflict.”

Expects a common policy for the industry
Mobakken doesn’t see any obvious solutions to the situation caused by the Russian invasion and the war in the Ukraine. 

“The 2021-22 World Cup season is almost over, but I expect that we will have a meeting with all the service teams and industry reps after the last races are done and we might have a better idea where things are headed in the world. All the brands and manufacturers are in the same position, as everyone have Russian and Belarus athletes in their teams,” he says to ProXCskiing.com.  

Mobakken hopes that a meeting with all the industry players can lead to some sort of common policy on how to handle the situation moving forward and how to handle the affected athletes.  

Brav, which owns several brands including Swix and Toko, has terminated all commercial activity in Russia indefinitely. 

Brav also terminated all sponsor contracts with the Russian national ski team and the Russian biathlon team. These contracts include products such as ski poles, roller skis and ski wax, as well as salaries and performance bonuses.  

“Due to the Russian invasion into the Ukraine, Brav has determined to terminate all commercial activity in Russian until further notice. Our employees in Moscow, who are affected by this, will be taken care of by our company,” said CEO of Brav Espen Falck Engelstad earlier this week. 

2021-22 World Cup cut short
The World Cup event in Falun on March 11 through 13 will be the last of the 2021-22 FIS Cross-Country World Cup season. 

The FIS has tried to find an alternate location for the World Cup final, which was originally scheduled to take place in Tyumen, Russia, on March 18 to 20. The events in Tyumen were cancelled as a part of global sanctions placed on Russia and Belarus in response to the Russian invasion of the Ukraine last week. 

Additionally, the FIS has suspended all Russian and Belrus athletes from all international FIS competitions for the rest of the season. Furthermore, they will not be able to compete as neutral athletes the way they were allowed in the Beijing Olympics.

Affects dozens of racers
The sanctions and termination of commerce affects dozens of racers supported by industry sponsorships. 

Fischer is by far the largest brand, sponsoring more than twice as many Russian and Belarus athletes as all the other ski manufacturers combined. 

Fischer’s team includes Natalia Nepryaeva, Veronika Stepanova and Yulia Stupak on the women’s side, as well as a large group of high-profile male skiers, such as Denis Spitsov, Sergey Ustiugov, Alexey Chervotkin, Gleb Retivykh and Ivan Yakimushkin. 

Salomon is the second-biggest sponsor, with Tatiana Sorina and Artem Maltsev being two of the most famous Russian skiers on their roster. 

Rossignol sponsors Alexander Bolshunov, Alexander Terentev and Khristina Matsokina. Atomic and Madshus each have two to three skiers from Russian national team on their rosters.  

Russia has four national teams. This is why and how the Russian national team system works

Atomic
Evgeniy Belov 
Anastasia Faleeva 
Kristina Kuskova 

Anastasia Kirillova (Belarus) 

Fischer
Alena Baranova
Alexey Chervotkin 
Maria Istomina 
Yana Kirpichenko
Anastasia Kuleshova (Sedova) 
Andrey Larkov
Natalia Mekryukova 
Andrey Melnichenko
Natalia Nepryaeva
Anna Nechaevskaya 
Gleb Retivykh
Anastasia Rygalina 
Ilya Semikov
Ekaterina Smirnova 
Denis Spitsov
Veronika Stepanova 
Yulia Stupak 
Sergey Ustiugov 
Lilia Vasileva
Ivan Yakimushkin 
Alisa Zhambalova 


Hanna Karaliova (Belarus)
Valeryia Davydzenka (Belarus)
Polina Seronosova (Belarus)
Aliaksandr Voranau (Belarus)

Madshus
Alexander Bessmertnykh 
Kirill Kilivnyuk 

Rossignol
Alexander Bolshunov 
Khristina Matsokina
Alexander Terentev  

Salomon
Sergey Ardashev 
Denis Filimonov 
Anna Grukhvina 
Artem Maltsev 
Ilya Poroshkin 
Tatiana Sorina 
Anton Timashov

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