Anfisa Reztsova

Russian skier and biathlete (1964–2023)

Anfisa Anatolyevna Reztsova (Анфиса Анатольевна Резцова, née Romanova, Романова; 16 December 1964 – 19 October 2023) was Soviet and Russian biathlete and cross country skier who competed in both sports from 1985 to 2000.

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. 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".

Reztsova lived in Moscow. She was the mother of biathletes Daria Virolaynen and Kristina Reztsova. Anfisa Reztsova died of cardiac arrest on 19 October 2023, at the age of 58. Earlier in March 2023 Reztsova had a heart attack and due to low hemoglobin she received several blood transfusions.