Klavdiya Afanasyeva (russian: Клавдія Афанасьєва; born 15 January 1996) is a Russian

racewalker Racewalking, or race walking, is a long-distance discipline within the sport of athletics. Although a foot race, it is different from running in that one foot must appear to be in contact with the ground at all times. Race judges carefully asses ...

. She won gold medals in the European U20 and U23 championships in the 10,000 m race walk and

20 km race walk The 20 kilometre race walk is an Olympic Games, Olympic athletics (sport), athletics event that is competed by both men and women. The racewalking event is competed as a road race. Athletes must always keep in contact with the ground and the supp ...

respectively. Though she has never tested positive for an anti-doping violation, in May 2018 she was suspended from international competition due to participating in a training camp including banned coach

Viktor Chegin Viktor Mikhailovich Chegin (russian: Виктор Михайлович Чёгин; born 3 February 1962 in Bersenevka, Lyambirsky District) is a banned Russian racewalking coach. He was responsible for training all three athletes who swept the med ...

Career

Afanasyeva began competing on the national level in 2012 as a sixteen-year-old, finishing fourth at the Russian Winter Race Walking Championship and later winning the Chuvash Republic Championships. Her first international competition was in 2013, when she finished 5th in the 5000 m race walk at the

2013 World Youth Championships in Athletics The 2013 World Youth Championships in Athletics was the eighth edition of the biennial international athletics competition for youth (under-18) athletes. The five-day competition took place between 10 and 14 July at the RSC Olimpiyskiy stadium in ...

. In 2016, the

Russian Athletics Federation The Russian Athletics Federation (RAF), previously named the All-Russia Athletic Federation (ARAF; russian: Всероссийская федерация лёгкой атлетики, ВФЛА), is the governing body for the sport of athletics in ...

was banned from international competition from the

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...

for state-sponsored doping, meaning no Russian athletes were allowed to participate in the Olympics or any other international competition. In 2017, the IAAF began to accept a limited number of athletes training in Russia to compete as Authorized Neutral Athletes (ANA), and Afanasyeva was among the nineteen Russian athletes, and the only racewalker, cleared to compete in this manner at the

2017 World Championships in Athletics Seventeen or 17 may refer to: * 17 (number), the natural number following 16 and preceding 18 * one of the years 17 BC, AD 17, 1917, 2017 Literature Magazines * ''Seventeen'' (American magazine), an American magazine * ''Seventeen'' (Japane ...

. At the 2017 World Championships, Afanasyeva competed in the 20 km walk. She was in the top ten at the

10 km 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

split passed in 44:10, but she was ultimately one of six athletes disqualified for IAAF rule 230.6(a) "Repeated failure to comply with the definition of Race Walking." In May 2018, Afanasyeva's status as an Authorized Neutral Athlete was suspended by the

, along with that of four other Russian racewalkers, for participating in an April training camp that included coach

, who has received a lifetime ban from the sport. This prevented her from competing in any international competitions, including the 2018 IAAF World Race Walking Team Championships in China that month which she had qualified for. On June 9, 2018, Afanasyeva returned to competition for the first time since 2017, winning the

50 km race walk The 50 kilometre race walk was an Olympic athletics event that first appeared in 1932 and made its final Olympic appearance in 2021. The racewalking event is competed as a road race. Athletes must always keep in contact with the ground and the ...

at the Russian Race Walking Championship.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Afanasyeva, Klavdiya 1996 births Living people Russian female racewalkers World Athletics Championships athletes for Russia Authorised Neutral Athletes at the World Athletics Championships Russian Athletics Championships winners