Sergei Tarasov (biathlete)
Russian biathlete (born 1965)
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Sergei Petrovich Tarasov (Russian: Сергей Петрович Тарасов; born 15 February 1965) is a former Russian biathlete. In the 1990s, he was one of the dominating biathletes, winning four Olympic medals and seven World Championship medals over the course of his career.
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| Full name | Sergei Petrovich Tarasov | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 15 February 1965 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Sport | Biathlon | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Olympic Games | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Teams | 2 (1994, 1998) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Medals | 4 (1 gold) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Championships | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Teams | 5 (1991, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Medals | 9 (2 gold) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Cup | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Seasons | 9 (1989/90–1997/98) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Individual victories | 4 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Individual podiums | 13 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Albertville incident
During the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France, Tarasov became acutely ill and had to be taken to the hospital. Rumours about the cause of his grave medical condition soon started floating around the Olympic village, and was also reported in the press,[1] but the Russian team leaders said he'd suffered kidney failure from eating poisonous mushrooms. Many years later, in 2015, Tarasov gave an interview where he confirmed what many had thought in 1992, his kidney failure was caused by a botched blood transfusion. He'd either gotten someone else's blood, or the blood had not been properly refrigerated during storage. The blood transfusion at the Olympics was done by the team to illegally enhance his performance in the upcoming competitions, but nearly cost him his life.[2]
Biathlon results
All results are sourced from the International Biathlon Union.[3]
Olympic Games
4 medals (1 gold, 1 silver, 2 bronze)
| Event | Individual | Sprint | Relay |
|---|---|---|---|
 1994 Lillehammer |
Gold | Bronze | Silver |
 1998 Nagano |
15th | 22nd | Bronze |
World Championships
9 medals (2 gold, 5 silver, 2 bronze)
| Event | Individual | Sprint | Pursuit | Team | Relay |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 1991 Lahti |
10th | 10th | N/a | Bronze | Silver |
 1993 Borovets |
Silver | Bronze | N/a | — | Silver |
 1994 Canmore |
N/a | N/a | N/a | Silver | N/a |
 1996 Ruhpolding |
Gold | 9th | N/a | — | Gold |
 1997 Brezno-Osrblie |
30th | 5th | Silver | 15th | 8th |
- *During Olympic seasons competitions are only held for those events not included in the Olympic program.
- **Pursuit was added as an event in 1997.
Individual victories
4 victories (3 In, 1 Sp)
| Season | Date | Location | Discipline | Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990–91 1 victory (1 Sp) | 19 January 1991 | Ruhpolding | 10 km sprint | Biathlon World Cup |
| 1993–94 2 victories (2 In) | 9 December 1993 |  Bad Gastein | 20 km individual | Biathlon World Cup |
| 20 February 1994 | Lillehammer | 20 km individual | Winter Olympic Games | |
| 1995–96 1 victory (1 In) | 4 February 1996 | Ruhpolding | 20 km individual | Biathlon World Championships |
- *Results are from UIPMB and IBU races which include the Biathlon World Cup, Biathlon World Championships and the Winter Olympic Games.