Winter Olympics 2022 - Alexander Bolshunov helps Russian Olympic Committee win cross-country relay in Beijing

Alexander Bolshunov earned his second gold medal at Beijing 2022 by helping the Russian Olympic Committee win the men's 4x10km cross-country skiing relay, giving his team a massive lead that they never relinquished. The Russian quartet of Alexey Chervotkin, Bolshunov, Denis Spitsov and Sergey Ustiugov finished more than a minute clear of the chasing pack in a race that was effectively decided by the halfway stage.

Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo secured silver for Norway by pulling away from Maurice Manificat near the end as France settled for bronze. Ad/> While most teams put their strongest skier on the anchor leg, the Russians used Bolshunov on the second leg and that strategy paid off massively as he was able to create an insurmountable gap to the field.

Bolshunov inherited a lead of 23 seconds from Chervotkin and was a full minute ahead of his closest rivals by the second exchange. /> Beijing 2022'Demolished the field' — ROC take victory in women's relay classicA DAY AGO That meant the last two legs mainly became a procession to the finish for Spitsov and Ustiugov as the Russians completed a sweep of the cross-country skiing relays, having won the women's 4x5km event on Saturday.

Ustiugov was able to grab an ROC flag to wave as he skied down the final straight toward his three team-mates, who were waiting at the finish line to celebrate. Bolshunov coasts to gold in men's 30km skiathlon with 70 second lead Shocked Bolshunov breaks podium with big victory celebration at Beijing 2022 Olympics The race for silver was far closer as Norway, Sweden and France stayed together in a three-way pack where only two of them could end up with medals.