Russia competed at every edition of the World Athletics Championships 1993 to the 2017 World Championships, from which its athletes have been banned from competing as Russian. In order for Russian nationals to compete at the World Athletics Championship (from 2017 on), they must be approved as authorised neutral athletes by the IAAF. Prior to 1993, Russian athletes competed for the Soviet Union. Russia has the second-highest medal total among nations at the competition (153), after the United States. At 47 gold medals, it holds the third-highest total after the United States and Kenya. It has had the most success in women's events and in field events. As a major nation in the sport of athletics, it typically sent a delegation numbering over 100 athletes.
It topped the medal table at the 2001 tournament, overtaking the United States following the redistribution of medals due to doping cases. Russia also initially finished top of the medal table at the 2013 Moscow Championships, but lost this position due to doping disqualifications of its athletes. Russia's performance at the competition has been strongly affected by doping. Furthermore, the country's doping problems are distinct because in Russia doping is supplied to the athletes by the government. The country was banned from competing in 2017 due to the state-sponsored doping and Russians had to gain special dispensation to compete as Authorised Neutral Athletes.IAAF approves the application of seven Russians to compete internationally as neutral athletes. IAAF (11 April 2017). Retrieved 2018-03-15. Various members of the Russian delegation have been banned for doping at every edition of the competition it has competed at, with the exceptions of 2003 and 2015 (though Russian medalists in both those years were subsequently banned).
Russia's most successful athlete at the competition is horizontal jumps specialist Tatyana Lebedeva, who between 2001 and 2009 won two triple jump gold medals, a long jump title, and two further silver medals. Women's pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva has also won three gold medals, in addition to a bronze. Yuliya Pechonkina, a 400 metres hurdles and relay athlete, has won the most medals for Russia, with her total of seven. The most successful Russian man at the World Championships is high jumper Yaroslav Rybakov, who won three high jump silvers before becoming champion in 2009.
Medal table Championships Men Women Total Gold Silver Bronze Gold Silver Bronze Gold Silver Bronze Total Rank Athletes 1993 Stuttgart 0 3 3 3 5 2 3 8 5 16 3 1995 Göteborg 0 1 0 1 3 7 1 4 7 12 11 1997 Athens 0 2 2 1 2 1 1 4 3 8 9 1999 Seville 3 1 0 2 3 3 5 4 3 12 2 2001 Edmonton 1 3 3 4 4 3 5 7 6 18 1 2003 Paris 1 2 1 6 5 4 7 7 5 19 2 2005 Helsinki 1 3 2 6 4 2 7 7 4 18 2 2007 Osaka 0 1 1 4 6 2 4 7 3 14 3 2009 Berlin 1 0 1 1 0 4 2 0 5 7 10 106 2011 Daegu 1 1 1 2 0 2 3 1 3 7 6 76 2013 Moscow 1 0 2 2 2 1 3 2 3 8 6 119 2015 Beijing 1 1 0 1 0 1 2 1 1 4 9 62 Total 10 18 16 33 34 32 43 52 48 143 3 —
Medalists
Athlete Gold Silver Bronze Total Years Tatyana Lebedeva 3 2 0 5 2001–2009 Yelena Isinbayeva 3 0 1 4 2003–2013 Yuliya Pechonkina 2 3 2 7 2001–2007 Tatyana Lysenko 2 1 0 3 2005–2013 Olimpiada Ivanova 2 0 0 2 2001–2005 Tatyana Tomashova 2 0 0 2 2003–2005 Yaroslav Rybakov 1 3 0 4 2001–2009 Irina Privalova * 1 2 2 5 1993–1995 Anna Chicherova 1 2 2 5 2007–2015 Maksim Tarasov * 1 2 1 4 1993–1999 * Includes medals won competing for the Soviet Union
Doping AthleteSexEventYear(s)ResultNotesLiliya Nurutdinova Women 800 m 1993 7th Olimpiada Ivanova Women 10,000 m walk 1997 Lyubov Tsyoma Women 800 m 1997 (semis) German Skurygin Men 50 kilometres walk 1999 Svetlana Laukhova Women 100 m hurdles 2001 5th (heats) Yekaterina Leshchova Women 200 m 2001 6th (heats) Natalya Sadova Women Discus throw 2001 Svetlana Krivelyova Women Shot put 2005 4th Tatyana Kotova Women Long jump 2005 Olga Kuzenkova Women Hammer throw 2005 Svetlana Cherkasova Women 800 m 2007 6th (h) Yuliya Fomenko Women 1500 m 2007 7th Gulfiya Khanafeyeva Women Hammer throw 2007 10th Darya Pishchalnikova Women Discus throw 2007 Yelena Soboleva Women 1500 m 2007 Valeriy Borchin Men 20 kilometres walk 20092011 (2009) (2011) Disqualified at two editionsSergey Kirdyapkin Men 50 kilometres walk 20092011 (2009) (2011) Disqualified at two editionsMikhail Lemayev Men Marathon 2009 45th Ildar Minshin Men 3000 m steeplechase 2009 7th Anna Alminova Women 1500 m 2009 10th (semis) Yuliya Chermoshanskaya Women 4 × 100 m relay 2009 4th Russian relay team disqualifiedYelizaveta Grechishnikova Women 5000 m 20092011 10th (h)14th Olga Kaniskina Women 20 kilometres walk 20092011 (2009) (2011) Disqualified at two editionsAnastasiya Kapachinskaya Women 400 m4 × 400 m relay 20092011 7th (2009) (2011) 2009 and 2011 bronze medal-winning Russian relay teams annulled. Disqualified at two editionsSvetlana Klyuka Women 800 m 2009 5th (semis) Mariya Konovalova Women 10,000 m 2009 11th Tatyana Petlyuk Women 800 m4 × 400 m relay 20092011 6th (semis) (h) 2009 Russian relay team disqualifiedNailya Yulamanova Women Marathon 2009 8th Bronze medal-winning Russian team for the 2009 World Marathon Cup annulledDenis Alekseyev Men 4 × 400 m relay 2011 4th Russian relay team disqualifiedSergey Bakulin Men 50 kilometres walk 2011 Vladimir Kanaykin Men 20 kilometres walk 2011 Sergey Morozov Men 20 kilometres walk 2011 12th Stanislav Yemelyanov Men 20 kilometres walk 2011 5th Igor Yerokhin Men 50 kilometres walk 2011 Yekaterina Kostetskaya Women 800 m 2011 5th Olga Kucherenko Women Long jump 20112013 5th Disqualified at two editionsYekaterina Sharmina Women 1500 m 20112013 9th (semis)6th Disqualified at two editionsTatyana Mineyeva Women 20 kilometres walk 2011 17th Anna Omorova Women Shot put 2011 10th Yuliya Stepanova Women 800 m 2011 8th Mariya Savinova Women 800 m 20112013 Disqualified at two editionsOlesya Syreva Women 1500 m 2011 9th (semis) Yuliya Zaripova Women 3000 m steeplechase 2011 Soslan Tsirikhov Men Shot put 2013 13th (q) Anna Bulgakova Women Hammer throw 2013 5th Vera Ganeyeva Women Discus throw 2013 7th (q) Yevgeniya Kolodko Women Shot put 2013 5th Antonina Krivoshapka Women 400 m4 × 400 m relay 2013 Gold medal-winning Russian relay team disqualified
References
IAAF Statistics Book – IAAF World Championships London 2017 Kenya at the 2017 World Championships in Athletics