Valeriy Viktorovich Borchin (russian: Вале́рий Ви́кторович Бо́рчин; born 11 September 1986) is a
race walker from
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
who won the 2008 Olympic gold medal and was
World champion
A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...
over the 20 km distance. His World Championship was retroactively stripped in 2015 due to doping.
Biography
He was born in the village of
Povadimovo near
Saransk
Saransk (russian: Саранск, p=sɐˈransk; mdf, Саранск ошсь, Saransk oš; myv, Саран ош, Saran oš) is the capital city of the Republic of Mordovia, Russia, as well as its financial and economic centre. It is located ...
in what is now the
Republic of Mordovia
The Republic of Mordovia (russian: Респу́блика Мордо́вия, r=Respublika Mordoviya, p=rʲɪsˈpublʲɪkə mɐrˈdovʲɪjə; mdf, Мордовия Республиксь, ''Mordovija Respublikś''; myv, Мордовия Рес ...
. After trying out
weightlifting
Weightlifting generally refers to activities in which people lift weights, often in the form of dumbbells or barbells. People lift various kinds of weights for a variety of different reasons. These may include various types of competition; promo ...
and
long-distance running in his youth, he began practising racewalking at the age of seventeen after a knee injury. He met
Viktor Chegin, a prominent Olympic-level coach in the region, in 2004 and began practising with his training group. The year after he was the runner-up in the junior 10 km walk in the national championships. However, he received a year-long ban from competition soon after, lasting from June 2005 to 2006, after he failed an in-competition drugs test for the banned stimulant
ephedrine
Ephedrine is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is often used to prevent low blood pressure during anesthesia. It has also been used for asthma, narcolepsy, and obesity but is not the preferred treatment. It is of unclear benefit in ...
.
Upon his return to competition, he took the senior national title and won the 20 km walk
silver medal at the
2006 European Athletics Championships. Borchin formed part of a Russian medal sweep at the
2007 European Athletics U23 Championships
The 6th European Athletics U23 Championships was held between 12 and 15 July 2007 in the Gyulai István Athletic Stadium in Debrecen, Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Car ...
, taking the
gold medal and he competed at the
2007 World Championships in Athletics
The 11th World Championships in Athletics, () under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), were held at Nagai Stadium in Osaka, Japan from 24 August to 2 September 2007. 200 of the IAAF's 212 member federat ...
later that year, but did not manage to finish the race. He was runner-up to
Paquillo Fernández
Francisco Javier Fernández Peláez (born 6 March 1977 in Guadix, Province of Granada, Andalusia), better known as Paquillo Fernández, is a retired Spanish race walker. He specialized in the 20 km race walk.
On 27 July 2008 he set a new ...
at the
2008 IAAF World Race Walking Cup in
Cheboksary
Cheboksary (; russian: Чебокса́ры, r=Cheboksáry, p=tɕɪbɐˈksarɨ; cv, Шупашкар, ''Şupaşkar'') is the capital city of Chuvashia, Russia and a port on the Volga River.
Geography
The city is located in the Volga Upland reg ...
in May, leading Russia to the team victory.
A week prior to the
2008 Summer Olympics, his coach Viktor Chegin admitted that Borchin and fellow Russian walker
Vladimir Kanaykin
Vladimir Alekseevich Kanaykin (russian: Владимир Алексеевич Канайкин; born 21 March 1985) is a Russian race walker.
Career
He won the 2002 World Junior Championships in the 10 km race, took the silver medal at the ...
had failed an out-of-competition test in April that year, testing positive for the blood-booster
EPO. However, Borchin dismissed the claims, saying he had not given a positive test and he not trained with or spoken to any of the other Russian walkers. Borchin was allowed to compete and won the gold medal in the 20 km race at the Olympics. It was not explained why Borchin was allowed to compete – in spite the admittance of a positive test by the Russian Athletics Federation, he did not receive a doping ban and was allowed to keep his medal and continue racing.
He won his first world title the next year with a victory at the
2009 World Championships. Borchin was absent for the 2010 season, which featured no major championships, and returned to compete the following year. He opened his 2011 season with a win at the 20th edition of the
International Race Walking Grand Prix in
Rio Maior
Rio Maior () is a municipality in the Santarém District in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 21,192, in an area of 272.76 km².
The present mayor is Isaura Morais of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), the first woman to be elected mayor ...
in April.
2012 Olympics
In the 20 kilometre walk during the
2012 London Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
, Borchin collapsed within 2 kilometres (1.6 miles) of the finish. The race was eventually won by
Chen Ding of the
People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
.
Disqualification
On 20 January 2015 Borchin was disqualified for 8 years starting from 15 October 2012, and all his results between 14 July 2009 and 15 September 2009, between 16 June 2011 and 27 September 2011 as well as between 11 April 2012 and 3 September 2012 (which include two world championship golds) were annulled. On 25 March 2015 the IAAF filed an appeal with the Court of Arbitration in Lausanne, Switzerland, questioning the selective disqualification of the suspension periods of the six athletes involved including Borchin. On March 24, 2015, the court rules all of his marks from August 14, 2009 to October 15, 2012 were also disqualified.
See also
*
List of doping cases in athletics
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby union ...
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Borchin, Valeriy
1986 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Mordovia
Russian male racewalkers
Olympic athletes of Russia
Olympic gold medalists for Russia
Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field)
Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics
World Athletics Championships athletes for Russia
World Athletics Championships winners
World Athletics Championships medalists
Athletes stripped of World Athletics Championships medals
European Athletics Championships medalists
Russian Athletics Championships winners
Russian sportspeople in doping cases
Doping cases in athletics