Bolshunov to Compete in Moonlight Classic at Seiser Alm

Bolshunov took part in the same race in 2025, which attracted a lot of attention.

In a message to NRK, the Italian organizer confirms that Bolshunov will not participate this time.

“Moonlight Classic” is in 2026 for the first time part of Ski Classics. Therefore Bolshunov cannot participate this year – unlike last year.

– When it turned out that the “Aleksandr Bolshunov from Kazakhstan” who had signed up, was Bolshunov from Russia and not approved for participation in a FIS race. That is why he was removed from the start list, says Ski Classics manager Oscar Svärd to NRK.

– What is the difference?

– I don’t know what rules the organizer used last year, but this year they are part of Ski Classics, and then we follow the FIS rules. Bolshunov is not among the Russian runners approved for international participation in the FIS, replies Svärd.

– He will not start. It was last year, writes the information officer for the race, Martina Rier. to NRK.

– Wrong

To NRK’s ​​question about why he was listed with Kazakhstan as a nation, Rier replies:

– We apologize, but it was a mistake.

From 2026, this race is part of the “Ski Classics Challengers”, a tour of international cross-country races.

When Bolshunov ran the Moonlight Classic in 2025, it was his first competition in Western Europe since Putin ordered full-scale war against Ukraine in February 2022.

On Friday morning, the Russian media mentioned Bolshunov’s participation for Kazakhstan, without explaining anything about why he should represent the neighboring country. On social media, there was criticism from Russians against him going for Kazakhstan.

To Sovetskij Sport, the well-known TV commentator Dmitry Guberniyev says:

– People in the comment section are not “the general public”. Bolshunov had an opportunity to participate, and he took advantage of it. I don’t see anything criminal in that.

On Thursday evening, it became known that the fast-track court of the CAS (Court of Arbitration for Sport) refused to hear Bolshunov’s appeal against the ban from the Olympics in Italy. CAS is the final appeal body. By all accounts, the decision means that Bolshunov cannot be ready for Olympic participation.

Protests

– They are doing everything to prevent Aleksandr from making it to the Games, says his coach Jurij Borodavko to Match TV.

– It is simply cynicism at its worst, he continues.

Not everyone was equally happy that Bolshunov ran – and won – the race last year. Italian Lorenzo Busin, who finished second, posed with a Ukrainian flag around his arm on the podium. So did Swedish Malin Börjesjö, who came third in the women’s class.

As a direct result of the war, Russian cross-country skiers have been banned from the biggest international races ever since. This season, two Russian runners have participated in the World Cup. The same two have received the go-ahead for the Olympics – but then as “neutral athletes”, without the Russian flag.

Aleksandr Bolshunov is an officer in the Russian National Guard, which reports directly to President Vladimir Putin. That is one of the reasons why he is not relevant for Olympic participation. He was promoted for his performance in the Beijing Olympics, which were held just before the full-scale invasion.

He therefore only participates in domestic races and has had a variable winter, according to the state-controlled news agency RIA.

– The biggest star in Russian cross-country skiing started the season without victories, ended up at the center of several scandals and withdrew into the shadows – without contact with the association, without comments about neutral status and with very selective contact with the press, writes RIA.