Yekaterina Mikhailovna Ivonina (Russian: Екатерина Михайловна Ивонина; born 14 June 1994) is a Russian distance runner who specialises in the 3000 metres steeplechase. She is a four-time winner of the steeplechase at the Russian Athletics Championships and competed as a neutral athlete at the 2019 World Athletics Championships.

Yekaterina Ivonina
Personal information
Full nameYekaterina Mikhailovna Ivonina
NationalityRussian
Born (1994-06-14) 14 June 1994 (age 30)
Sport
Country Russia
SportAthletics
Event3000 metres steeplechase
Coached byS. A. Popov
Achievements and titles
World finals2019 (19th)
National finals4 Russian titles
Personal best3000 m s'chase: 9:13.76 (2021)

Ivonina is from in Kirov, Kirov Oblast.[1] Her athletic career initially focused on mountain running and in this discipline she performed at the World Mountain Running Championships in 2011 and 2012,[2][3] and shared in the junior team gold medal at the 2013 European Mountain Running Championships.[4]

She won her first national title in the 2000 metres steeplechase at the 2013 Russian Under-20 Indoor Championships. A win the in 3000 m steeplechase at the 2015 Russian Team Championships brought Ivonina her first international selections on the track, and she went on to finish 11th at the 2015 European Team Championships and seventh at the 2015 European Athletics U23 Championships.[5] She began training with S. A. Popov, who coached former world champion Tatyana Tomashova among others.[6]

Ivonina's international career came to a halt with the suspension of Russian Athletics by the International Association of Athletics Federations, following investigations into a systemic doping program in November 2015.[7] This left Ivonina to compete at national level only for the following three years. In 2016, she won the Russian under-23 indoor title over 3000 metres then followed this with her first senior national steeplechase title at the 2016 Russian Athletics Championships. She did not compete in 2017, but returned in 2018 to win a second Russian title in the steeplechase as well as a win at the Russian Cup event.[6]

She sought to compete internationally under the Authorised Neutral Athletes programme and was accepted,[8] leading to an appearance at the 2019 World Athletics Championships, though she did not progress beyond the heats.[9] Restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic meant she made only three appearances in 2020: third in the 3000 m at the 2020 Russian Athletics Indoor Championships, a third steeplechase win at the 2020 Russian Athletics Championships, and first in the 1500 metres at the Russian Team Championships. A combination of pandemic restrictions and her failure to be approved to compete at the delayed 2020 Summer Olympics meant her only performance of note in 2021 was a steeplechase win at the 2021 Russian Athletics Championships.[5][10]

International competitions

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Representing   Russia
Year Competition Venue Position Event Result Notes
2011 World Mountain Running Championships Tirana, Albania 17th Junior race 23:27
5th Junior team 24 pts
2012 World Mountain Running Championships Temù-Ponte di Legno, Italy 11th Junior race 23:02
4th Junior team 21 pts
European Mountain Running Championships Denizli-Pamukkale, Turkey 8th Junior race 23:03
5th Junior team 23 pts
2013 European Mountain Running Championships Borovets, Bulgaria 11th Junior race 28:59
1st Junior team 24 pts
2015 European Team Championships Super League Cheboksary, Russia 11th 3000 m s'chase 10:34.55
European U23 Championships Tallinn, Estonia 7th 3000 m s'chase 9:58.95
2019 World Championships Doha, Qatar 19th 3000 m s'chase 9:35.59 5th in heat 3
Competed as neutral athlete

National titles

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Personal bests

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All information from World Athletics[5]

Seasonal rankings

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3000 metres steeplechase
Year Time World ranking[11] European ranking[12]
2012 10:56.63 699 244
2013 10:16.90 222 87
2014 10:23.44 299 118
2015 9:36.79 43 12
2016 9:24.66 20 2
2017
2018 9:16.68 13 1
2019 9:35.59 37 13
2020 9:16.84 3 1
2021 9:13.76 11 2

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Athletics News. Kirov Regional Athletics Federation. Retrieved 2021-10-03.
  2. ^ World Mountain Running Championships 2011 Tirana (ALB), 11.09.2011 Junior Women individual (4.5 km/500 m/45 participants). WMRA. Retrieved 2021-10-03.
  3. ^ World Mountain Running Championships 2012 Temu-Ponte di Legno (ITA), 02.09.2012 Junior Women individual (3.9 km/310 m/46 participants). WMRA. Retrieved 2021-10-03.
  4. ^ European Mountain Running Championships 2013 Borovets (BUL), 06.07.2013 Junior Women individual (3.5 km/530 m/37 participants). WMRA. Retrieved 2021-10-03.
  5. ^ a b c Yekaterina Ivonina. World Athletics. Retrieved 2021-10-03.
  6. ^ a b Попов С. А.. RusAthletics. Retrieved 2021-10-03.
  7. ^ IAAF provisionally suspends Russian Member Federation ARAF. World Athletics. Retrieved 2021-10-03.
  8. ^ IAAF approves the application of Russia's Yekaterina Ivonina to compete internationally as a neutral athlete. World Athletics (2019-09-13). Retrieved 2021-10-03.
  9. ^ "Women's 3000 metres steeplechase − Heats − Summary" (PDF). IAAF. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
  10. ^ World Athletics approves the application of 35 Russians to compete internationally as neutral athletes. World Athletics (2021-06-07). Retrieved 2021-10-03.
  11. ^ World Athletics Top Lists. World Athletics. Retrieved 2021-10-03.
  12. ^ European Athletics Top Lists. European Athletics. Retrieved 2021-10-03.
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