Aleksey Kuznetsov

Aleksey Kuznetsov took up skiing when he was 16-years-old, but rose to prominence after he joined the Soviet Army in 1951. In 1954, Kuznetsov was selected to the first Soviet World Championships team and won a silver as a member of Soviet 4x10 km relay team. Kuznetsov missed the 1956 Winter Olympics and 1958 World Championships, but got his chance at the next Winter Olympics, because many of the top Soviet skiers became ill while traveling to the United States. He was eighth in the 30 km, fifteenth in the 50 km, and won a bronze as a member of Soviet relay team. Kuznetsov’s last international appearance was at the 1962 World Championships, where he won a bronze as a member of Soviet relay team. Domestically Kuznetsov won two Soviet titles, one at 50 km in 1960 and one at 15 km in 1961. After finishing his competitive career Kuznetsov worked for a long time as a cross-country skiing coach with Urozhay Gorky Oblast (now Nizhny Novgorod Oblast).