Anfisa Reztsova

In this name that follows East Slavic naming customs, the patronymic is Anatolyevna and the family name is Reztsova.

Anfisa Anatolyevna Reztsova (Russian: Анфиса Анатольевна Резцова, née Romanova, Романова; 16 December 1964 – 19 October 2023) was a Soviet and Russian biathlete and cross-country skier who competed in both sports from 1985 to 2000.^[1] In 1992 she became the first female athlete, and as of 2024 only 1 of 2, to win Olympic gold in two separate disciplines.

Anfisa Reztsova

Reztsova (left) with her grandson in 2009
Personal information
Birth name	Anfisa Anatolyevna Romanova
Born	(1964-12-16)16 December 1964 Yakimets, Gus-Khrustalny District, Vladimir Oblast, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Died	19 October 2023(2023-10-19) (aged 58)
Medal record Women's biathlon Representing  Russia Olympic Games 1994 Lillehammer 4 × 7.5 km relay Representing the  CIS World Championships 1992 Novosibirsk 4 × 7.5 km relay Representing the  Unified Team Olympic Games 1992 Albertville 7.5 km sprint 1992 Albertville 3 × 7.5 km relay Women's cross-country skiing Representing  Russia World Championships 1999 Ramsau 4 × 5 km relay Representing the  Soviet Union Olympic Games 1988 Calgary 4 × 5 km relay 1988 Calgary 20 km freestyle World Championships 1985 Seefeld 4 × 5 km relay 1987 Oberstdorf 4 × 5 km relay 1987 Oberstdorf 5 km classical 1987 Oberstdorf 20 km freestyle

Career

In Soviet times, she trained at Dynamo in Vladimir.

Reztsova earned a total of five medals in the Winter Olympics, including three golds (1988: cross country 4 × 5 km relay, 1992: biathlon 7.5 km, 1994: biathlon 4 × 7.5 km relay), one silver (1988: cross country 20 km), and one bronze (1992: biathlon 3 × 7.5 km relay). She was notable for performing the feat of being the only person to win Olympic gold medals in both cross-country skiing and biathlon. She was one of the few sportspersons to win gold at three consecutive Olympics under three different flags, the first being the Soviet union in 1988, the second – Unified Team in 1992, and the third being the Russian Federation in 1994.

Reztsova also found success at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships, earning three golds (4 × 5 km relay: 1985, 1987, 1999) and two silvers (1987: 5 km, 20 km). She also won one cross-country World Cup and seven biathlon World Cups in her career.

In an interview with a Russian sports website in 2020, she admitted to having used illegal performance-enhancing drugs at the end of her career.^[2]

During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Norwegian biathletes wanted Russian athletes to be excluded from international competitions. This made Reztsova claim that Russian athletes would always be better than the Norwegians, claim that Norwegians just wanted to get rid of competitors, and liken Norwegians to "disgusting cockroaches".^[3][4]

Personal life and death

Reztsova lived in Moscow. She was the mother of biathletes Daria Virolaynen^[5] and Kristina Reztsova.

Anfisa Reztsova died of cardiac arrest on 19 October 2023, at the age of 58.^[6] Earlier in March 2023 Reztsova had a heart attack and due to low hemoglobin she received several blood transfusions.^[6]

Cross-country skiing results

All results are sourced from the International Ski Federation (FIS).^[7]

Olympic Games

• 2 medals – (1 gold, 1 silver)

Year	Age	5 km	10 km	20 km	4 × 5 km   relay
1988	23	—	—	Silver	Gold

World Championships

• 5 medals – (3 gold, 2 silver)

Year	Age	5 km	10 km	15 km	Pursuit	20 km	30 km	4 × 5 km   relay
1985	20	—	12	—	—	5	—	Gold
1987	22	Silver	4	—	—	Silver	—	Gold
1999	34	11	—	5	4	—	—	Gold

World Cup

Season standings

Season	Age
		Overall	Long Distance	Middle Distance	Sprint
1985	20	6	—	—	—
1986	21	15	—	—	—
1987	22		—	—	—
1988	23	13	—	—	—
1999	34	9	8	—	8
2000	35	32	25	38	31

Individual podiums

• 10 podiums

No.	Season	Date	Location	Race	Level	Place
1	1984–85	14 February 1985	Klingenthal, East Germany	10 km Individual	World Cup	3rd
2		18 February 1985	Nové Město, Czechoslovakia	5 km Individual	World Cup	2nd
3	1985–86	7 December 1985	Labrador City, Canada	5 km Individual F	World Cup	2nd
4	1986–87	16 February 1987	Oberstdorf, West Germany	5 km Individual C	World Championships[1]	2nd
5		20 February 1987		20 km Individual F	World Championships[1]	2nd
6		28 February 1987	Lahti, Finland	5 km Individual F	World Cup	2nd
7		15 March 1987	Kavgolovo, Soviet Union	10 km Individual C	World Cup	2nd
8	1987–88	16 December 1987	Bohinj, Yugoslavia	10 km Individual F	World Cup	2nd
9		25 February 1988	Calgary, Canada	20 km Individual F	Olympic Games[1]	2nd
10	1998–99	14 February 1999	Seefeld, Austria	5 km Individual F	World Cup	2nd

Team podiums

• 8 victories
• 11 podiums

No.	Season	Date	Location	Race	Level	Place	Teammates
1	1984–85	22 January 1985	Seefeld, Austria	4 × 5 km Relay	World Championships[1]	1st	Tikhonova / Smetanina / Vasilchenko
2	1986–87	17 February 1987	Oberstdorf, West Germany	4 × 5 km Relay F	World Championships[1]	1st	Ordina / Gavrylyuk / Lazutina
3		1 March 1987	Lahti, Finland	4 × 5 Relay C/F	World Cup	1st	Ordina / Lazutina / Välbe
4	1987–88	21 February 1988	Calgary, Canada	4 × 5 km Relay F	Olympic Games[1]	1st	Nageykina / Gavrylyuk / Tikhonova
5	1998–99	29 November 1998	Muonio, Finland	4 × 5 km Relay F	World Cup	1st	Danilova / Lazutina / Gavrylyuk
6		20 December 1998	Davos, Switzerland	4 × 5 km Relay C/F	World Cup	3rd	Denisova / Baranova-Masalkina / Chepalova
7		10 January 1999	Nové Město, Czech Republic	4 × 5 Relay C/F	World Cup	1st	Nageykina / Gavrylyuk / Chepalova
8		26 February 1999	Ramsau, Austria	4 × 5 Relay C/F	World Championships[1]	1st	Danilova / Lazutina / Gavrylyuk
9		14 March 1999	Falun, Sweden	4 × 5 km Relay C/F	World Cup	2nd	Gavrylyuk / Yegorova / Skladneva
10		21 March 1999	Oslo, Norway	4 × 5 km Relay C	World Cup	2nd	Lazutina / Baranova-Masalkina / Yegorova
11	1999–00	29 November 1999	Kiruna, Sweden	4 × 5 km Relay F	World Cup	1st	Yegorova / Skladneva / Chepalova

Note: ¹ Until the 1999 World Championships and the 1994 Olympics, World Championship and Olympic races were included in the World Cup scoring system.