Discipline | Performance | Wind | Venue | Date | Records | Results Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
10,000 Metres Race Walk | 42:16.0h | Sochi (RUS) | 27 FEB 2011 | 1035 | ||
10 Kilometres Race Walk | 40:48 | Sochi (RUS) | 19 FEB 2012 | 1096 | ||
20 Kilometres Race Walk | 1:20:06 | Sochi (RUS) | 27 FEB 2015 | 1189 |
Discipline | Performance | Wind | Venue | Date | Records | Results Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
5000 Metres Race Walk | 19:35.0h | Chelyabinsk (RUS) | 06 JAN 2012 | 1095 |
Discipline | Performance | Wind | Place | Date | Records | Results Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
20 Kilometres Race Walk | 1:22:05 | Sochi (RUS) | 27 FEB 2016 | 1146 |
Performance | Place | Date | |
---|---|---|---|
2011 | 42:16.0h | Sochi (RUS) | 27 FEB 2011 |
Performance | Place | Date | |
---|---|---|---|
2012 | 40:48 | Sochi (RUS) | 19 FEB 2012 |
2011 | 43:24 | Saransk (RUS) | 11 JUN 2011 |
Performance | Place | Date | |
---|---|---|---|
2016 | 1:22:05 | Sochi (RUS) | 27 FEB 2016 |
2015 | 1:20:06 | Sochi (RUS) | 27 FEB 2015 |
Performance | Place | Date | |
---|---|---|---|
2011/12 | 19:35.0h | Chelyabinsk (RUS) | 06 JAN 2012 |
Date | Competition | Cnt. | Cat | Race | Pl. | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
27 FEB 2016 | Sochi Russian Winter Walk Championships, Sochi |
![]() |
F | F | 2. | 1:22:05 |
Focus on Athletes biographies are produced by the IAAF Communications Dept, and not by the IAAF Statistics and Documentation Division. If you have any enquiries concerning the information, please use the Contact IAAF page, selecting ‘Focus on Athletes Biographies’ in the drop down menu of contact area options.
created 25 April 2014
Aleksandr IVANOV, Russia (20km Race Walk)
Born 25 April 1993, Nizhny Tagil,
Sverdlovsk Oblast
1.76m / 65 kg
Lives: Saransk, Mordovia
Coaches: Victor Chegin, Yelena Sayko,
Aleksandr Surayev
Aleksandr was a
very active kid, but didn’t attend any sports clubs or organised training
sessions until he was in tenth grade, 16 years old. He was the one to be seen
running and skiing every day, just on his own. That’s how a physical education
teacher, Aleksandr Surayev, noticed him and suggested he should try doing
athletics.
Ivanov used to
run all possible events, from the 60m to the 5,000m. However, Surayev suggested
that he is most suited for race walking. Aleksandr didn’t fall in love with the
event at the first sight. “I didn’t like the event at all, didn’t want to be a
race walker. But at the same time I knew my body, knew that I had that
endurance in me. And coach Surayev used to tell me, my muscles were suited for
race walking,” Ivanov says.
Training in
Nizhny Tagil was no joke. “We had neither an indoor track, nor a proper
stadium. So most of the sessions took place in the forest. In the winter it
gets extremely cold there, but we just pulled on an extra hat and a couple of
vests, and went for it,” Ivanov explains. But what concerned him more is that
the he didn’t get to travel to competitions often enough. That was one of the
reasons why Aleksandr decided not to stay at home after graduation from high
school. Instead, he entered the Ural State University of Physical Culture in
Chelyabinsk. And that’s where his race walking career really took off.
In Chelyabinsk,
Ivanov started training under the guidance of Yelena Sayko. In 2011, his first
year of being committed to the race walking, Ivanov started off by placing
fourth in the junior 10,000m race of the Russian Winter Race Walking
Championships in 42:16.0h. At the Summer National Championships he already
placed second in the junior 10km (43:24) and earned a team spot for the
European Junior Championships in Tallinn.
In Estonia,
Ivanov couldn’t get on the podium, but turned out to be the highest placed
Russian in the race, clocking 43:29,51 over the 10,000m for sixth place. But
most importantly, it was this competition, where he was spotted by the most
prominent race walking coach in the country, Victor Chegin, the one who guided
to World and Olympic medals the likes of Olga Kaniskina, Valeriy Borchin and
Segey Kirdyapkin. Chegin invited the young athlete to join his group for the
next training camp in Kislovodsk. “When he came up to me, he told me right away
that we’d be working for Rio,” Aleksandr recalls. But the progress of the young
athlete turned out to be faster, than expected.
Ever since that
training camp, Ivanov spends most of his time at Chegin’s Olympic Training
Center in Saransk, however he is still pursuing his degree in Chelyabinsk. “I
will graduate as a PE teacher. However, I don’t see myself coaching anytime
soon. Honestly, I don’t spend much time on schoolwork. It’s hard, especially
while I’m spending most of my time in Saransk. But that’s what it takes for the
career. And I’m grateful to the University, they make amends for my training
and traveling needs,” admits the World champion.
Training with
Chegin made a big difference for Ivanov. In May 2012, as the National Winter
Champion, he took part in the junior 10km race at the IAAF World Race Walking
Cup in Saransk. This city already felt like home, and with an immense support
of the crowd Ivanov took second place in 41:42 behind Colombia’s Eider Arevalo.
“Chegin told me to stay in the group for 7 km, but the pace was too slow, and I
accelerated earlier. Apparently, it was a mistake,” the Russian recalls.
Next on his
international agenda were the World Junior Championships Barcelona 2012. From
Spain, Ivanov brought home another silver and a personal best of 40:12.90. And
it was Arevalo, who defeated the Russian once again. “The pace was not too
high, so I was eager to increase it, but every time I stepped ahead, coaches
were telling me not to go into lead, so that I don’t help my competitors too
much. So the pace was very uneven, and by the last laps my legs just refused to
speed up,” he explains.
In 2013, it was
time to step up to the 20km and compete with all the stars of the event on a
senior level. With Russian tradition in the race walking, Ivanov has
competition on a national level, just as severe, as it would be intentionally.
Especially given the fact that the Russians were gearing up for the home World
Championships. In his first ever 20km race, at the Russian Winter Race Walking
Championships, Aleksandr placed fourth in 1:21:22. His second shot at this
distance took place at the European Race Walking Cup in Dudince, where he also
took fourth, but placed second among Russian participants.
Just one month
before the World Championships, Ivanov represented the country at the European
U23 Championships in Tampere. The 2011 European Junior Champion, Germany’s
Hagen Pohle, quickly went into the lead, while Ivanov and the defending
champion Pyotr Bogatyrev were “in charge” of the chase group. By the 4km mark,
Pohle’s lead was gone, now there were the Russians, creating the gap. By the
last lap, Bogatyrev and Ivanov were leading by more than three minutes. The
gold medallist was decided literally on the last metres of the race. Bogatyrev
was a little bit stronger, crossing the finish line first in 1:21:31, Ivanov
won another European age-group silver.
(Editor’s note: Bogatyrev was subsequently
disqualified for a doping offence.)
Coming into
Moscow 2013, Ivanov, not having any senior honors to his name, and just two
years of consistent race walking training, was still under the radar, as much
as a Russian walker can be. But by the 15th km Ivanov was in the leading group
with Olympic gold and silver medallists Chen Ding and Erick Barrondo. The
Russian then he surged, gradually increasing the gap between him and the London
2012 runner-up from Guatemala Erick Barrondo. Barrondo, despite already having
two red cards from the officials, attempted to catch the Russian and even
overcame Ivanov, but Guatemala’s race walker was eventually informed that he
had been disqualified with less than 1 km to go. Ivanov won the first Russian
gold at the home World Championships and set a personal best of 1:20:58.
“Coach Chegin
told me to wait for the last kilometer to spurt, but I relied on my intuition
and accelerated earlier. Just like a year before in Saransk. But there I
struggled, while here I succeeded. When Barrondo went into lead, I was calm, I
already knew about his disqualification, someone on the course told me. Plus I
had something left in my tank to ramp up the pace if needed,” explained Ivanov
after the finish.
“The preparation
for Moscow was brutal, there was a lot of pain. And I haven’t been in Nizhny
Tagil for a year, haven’t seen my mom and my sister for the whole year! I told
them not to come to Moscow, so that I wouldn’t be distracted, but right after
the Worlds, I went home,” says Aleksandr.
When Ivanov gets
back to Nizhny Tagil, he always tries to make time to go fishing and hunting
with his father. He is also up for a little bit of extreme sports in a shape of
alpine skiing. However, training doesn’t leave him much opportunities to do the
latter.
Even though the
preparation for Moscow was grueling, Ivanov is up for more work. “After tasting
that victory at the Worlds, I’m eager to win more, I’m hungry to succeed,” passionately
says Aleksandr. And admits, that this is the spirit he is taking to Taicang,
for the IAAF World Race Walking Cup, his first time at the event as a senior.
He is coming into the event as the Russian Winter Champion. In the end of
March, Ivanov improved his personal best by 14 seconds - 1:20:44.
Viktor Chegin
already hinted that Ivanov might step up the distance once again, giving the
50km a shot. The World champion is not opposed to this idea, but asks us to
wait for it. “I don’t think, I’m switching the event before the Rio. For now it’s
the 20km, and then - we’ll see,” smiles Aleksandr.
Personal Bests
10,000m RW: 40:12.90 (2012)
20km RW: 1:20:44 (2014)
Yearly Progression
10,000m RW/20km RW 2011: 42:16.0h/2012:
40:12.90/2013: -/-/1:20:58; 2014: 1:20:44
Career Highlights
2011 | 6th | European Junior Championships (Tallinn) | (10,000m RW) | 43:29.51 |
2012 | 2nd | World Race Walking Cup (Saransk) | (10km Jr RW) | 41:42 |
2012 | 2nd | World Junior Championships (Barcelona) | (10,000m RW) | 40:12.90 |
2013 | 4th | European Cup Race Walking (Dudince) | (20km RW) | 1:22:15 |
2013 | 2nd | European U23 Championships (Tampere) | (20km RW) | 1:21:34 |
2013 | 1st | World Championships (Moscow) | (20km RW) | 1:20:58 |
Prepared by Elena Dyachkova for the IAAF “Focus on Athletes” project. Copyright IAAF 2014