Olimpiada Vladimirovna Ivanova (; born 26 August 1970) is a Russian race walker.
Her first gold medal was won in the 2001 Edmonton World Championships, where she beat the rest of the world with the time 1.27:48. A year later, in 2002, she won another gold medal at the 2002 European Championship in Munich.
The next major sporting event she took part in was the 2004 Athens Olympics where she finished second. The winner was the home hero Athanasia Tsoumeleka, who deeply moved the ecstatic Greek crowd by getting her country's first ever medal in the event (time 1:29:12). Ivanova finished four seconds later and could not hide her disappointment. She did, however, win the gold for the 20 km walk in the 2005 Helsinki World Championships, beating the world record. For this record she was added to the 2007 Guinness World Record.
Ivanova was stripped of her silver medal in the 10 kilometer walk at the 1997 World Championships in Athletics after she had tested positive for stanozolol, and she was banned for two years. She is part of a group of over a dozen elite Russian race walkers, all coached by Viktor Chegin to receive doping bans.
Olimpiada Ivanova is married and has a daughter.
International competitions Representing the 1986World Junior ChampionshipsAthens, Greece15th5000 m25:01.87Representing 1993World Race Walking Cup Monterrey, Mexico12th10 km47:021997World Race Walking CupPoděbrady, Czech Republic 2nd10 km41:59World Championships Athens, Greece2nd 10 kmDQDoping2000European Race Walking Cup Eisenhüttenstadt, Germany 1st20 km1:26:482001European Race Walking Cup Dudince, Slovakia 1st20 km1:26:48World Championships Edmonton, Canada 1st20 km1:27:482002European Championships Munich, Germany 1st20 km1:26:422003World Championships Paris, France —20 km2004Olympic Games Athens, Greece 2nd20 km1:29:162005European Race Walking Cup Miskolc, Hungary 1st20 km1:28:18World Championships Helsinki, Finland 1st20 km1:25:412006World Race Walking CupA Coruña, Spain 2nd20 km1:27:262007World Championships Osaka, Japan —20 km
See also List of doping cases in athletics List of Olympic medalists in athletics (women) List of World Athletics Championships medalists (women) List of 2004 Summer Olympics medal winners List of European Athletics Championships medalists (women) List of doping cases in sport by substance List of Chuvashes Russia at the World Athletics Championships Doping at the World Athletics Championships
References