Larisa Lazutina

Larisa Evgenevna Lazutina (Russian: Лариса Евгеньевна Лазутина; born Larisa Ptitsyna (Russian: Лариса Птицына) on 1 June 1965 in Kondopoga, Karelian ASSR) is a former professional cross country skier who competed for Russia during several Winter Olympic Games. In the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, she won five medals in skiing events: three gold, a silver and a bronze. She was the most successful athlete at the 1998 Winter Olympics. Upon her return from the Olympics, Boris Yeltsin awarded her the title Hero of the Russian Federation. However, Lazutina was banned from competition for a period of 2 years due to a positive drug test result during the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

Contents

• 1998 OWG Nagano 5km C LAZUTINA NEUMANNOVA SKARI MARTINSEN
• Accusations of academic dishonesty
• References

Before the drug test controversy in 2002 ended her career, Lazutina earned several medals at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships. She won a total of sixteen medals, including eleven golds (5 km: 1993, 1995, 5 km + 10 km combined pursuit: 1995, 15 km: 1995, 30 km: 1999, and 4 x 5 km: 1987, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001), three silvers (30 km: 1989, 5 km + 10 km combined pursuit: 1993, 5 km + 5 km combined pursuit: 2001), and two bronzes (20 km: 1987 (as Larissa Ptitsyna) and 10 km: 2001). She was also the first three-time winner of the women's 30 km event at the Holmenkollen ski festival (1995, 1998, and 2001).

Lazutina was awarded the Holmenkollen medal in 1998 (shared with Fred Børre Lundberg, Alexey Prokurorov, and Harri Kirvesniemi).

Accusations of academic dishonesty

In 2007 Larisa Lazutina was awarded a Ph.D degree at the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration. According to an examination by Dissernet, her thesis was heavily plagiarised.