Viktor Chegin

Viktor Mikhailovich Chegin (Cyrillic: Ви́ктор Миха́йлович Чёгин; born 3 February 1962 in Bersenevka, Lyambirsky District) is a Russian racewalking coach. He was responsible for training all three athletes who swept the medals at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics; Olga Kaniskina, Valeriy Borchin and Sergey Kirdyapkin. His athletes also won gold at the 2012 Summer Olympics, in the names of Elena Lashmanova and Kirdyapkin, with Kaniskina also picking up a silver. Current world record holders Lashmanova, Denis Nizhegorodov, Sergey Morozov are all coached by Chegin.

On July 16, 2014. Chegin was fired from the Russian team amid an investigation by the Russian Anti Doping Agency (RUSADA).^[1] Sovetsky Sport quoted Valentin Balakhnichev, head of the All-Russia Athletic Federation saying Chegin would not be part of the team for the European championship, as the recent doping scandals had “tarnished Chegin’s career” but said the coach would continue to train athletes in Russia.^[2]

While not part of the official delegation, Chegin was spotted in August 2014 in Zurich along the course of the 2014 European Athletics Championships coaching his athletes after the ban was in place.^[3]

Banned for life in December 2012, after a second doping violation, Morozov continued to work with Chegin as an accredited Russian staff member at the 2014 IAAF World Race Walking Cup.^[4]

Chegin coaches at the Centre of the Olympic training of Mordovia in Saransk, where he has been highly honored as "the father of all the victories of our race walkers."^[5][6][7][8] He was named a "Chevalier of the Order of Glory of Mordovia"^[9]

As early as 2008, there were accusations of systematic doping violations on the part of Chegin.^[10] Several other athletes have skipped major championships, which have raised suspicions of their trying to hide something.^[11]

Several of Chegin's suspended athletes, including Sergey Bakulin, Elena Lashmanova and Ekaterina Medvedeva apparently competed in a race on December 30, 2014 according to photographs collected by Canadian race walker Evan Dunfee.^[12] Russian officials claim the photographs are from a 2012 event and released additional photographs which show different athletes on the awards stands in order construct a coverup. While Dunfee's elaborate deconstruction of the photos suggests some were concocted, it is clear that Chegin is at the heart of the awards, making him clearly complicit if a determination of cover up is found.^[13]

Athletes coached by Chegin and banned for doping offenses

37 athletes in total had by January 2015 been banned by IAAF in biological passport cases.^[14] 11 of them, or ca. 30%, was coached by Viktor Chegin. There are also at least 6 EPO positives recorded by his athletes, two positives for the possible cancer causing black market drug GW1516, and in 2014 two of his athletes tested positive for SARMs. 3 of his athletes have been banned for life, all for their second anti-doping rule violation, and all before the age of 30. Plus one of his athletes German Skurygin died of a heart attack at age 45.

• Tatyana Akulinushkina - 6 month ban for a Fenoterol positive in 2013^[15]
• Yuriy Andronov - 2 time World Cup bronze medalist - 2 year ban for a Trimetazidine positive in 2014.^[16]
• Sergey Bakulin - 2011 World Champion - 3 years and 2 months ban for anomalies in his biological passport.^[17]
• Pyotr Bogatyrev - Bronze medalist at the World Junior Championships - 2 year ban for anomalies in his biological passport.^[16]
• Valeriy Borchin - Olympic and 2X world champion, collapsed 1 km before the finish in 2012 Olympics - 8 year ban for anomalies in his biological passport.^[17]
• Viktor Burayev - European Race Walking Cup - 2 year ban for an EPO positive in 2008.^[18]
• Dementiy Cheparev - Silver medalist at the 2009 IAAF World Youth Championships - 2 year ban for a Fenoterol positive in 2012.^[19]
• Evgenia Danilova - 2 year ban for a GW1516 positive in 2013.^[16][20]
• Stanislav Emelyanov - 2007 World Youth champion, 2008 World Junior champion and 2009 European Junior champion - 2 year ban for anomalies in his biological passport^[21][22]
• Igor Erokhin - Silver medalist from the 2011 European Race Walking Cup - 2 year ban for an EPO positive in 2008 and banned for life in 2013 for anomalies in his biological passport.^[16][23][24]
• Artur Grigoryev - 2 year ban for a Carphedon positive in 2013.^[16]
• Olimpiada Ivanova - Olympic silver medalist and 2X world champion - 2 year ban for a stanozolol positive in 1997.^[25][26]
• Vladimir Kanaykin - World Championships silver medalist, World Junior Champion - 2 year ban for an EPO positive in 2008^[18] and banned for life in 2015 for biological passport anomalies.^[17]
• Olga Kaniskina - Olympic Gold and Silver medalist - Banned for 3 years and 2 months in 2015 for biological passport anomalies.^[17]
• Sergey Kirdyapkin - Banned for 3 years and 2 months in 2015 for biological passport anomalies.^[17]
• Elena Lashmanova - Olympic and World Champion, World Record - Banned for 2 years for a GW1516 positive in 2014.^[16]
• Mikhail Lemaev - Marathon runner - Banned for 2 years in 2013 for biological passport anomalies.^[16]
• Ekaterina Medvedeva - World Junior Champion - Banned for 2 years in 2013 for an EPO positive.^[16]
• Tatyana Mineyeva - World Junior Champion - Banned for 2 years in 2012 for biological passport anomalies.^[19]
• Nadezhda Mokeyeva - Banned for 2 years in 2014 for a SARMs positive.^[16]
• Sergey Morozov - World Youth Champion - Banned for 2 years for an EPO positive in 2008^[27][28][29] and banned for life in 2012 (at the age of 24) for biological passport anomalies.^[16]
• Andrey Ruzavin - Bronze medalist at the 2014 IAAF World Race Walking Cup. Provisionally suspended in October 2014,^[30][31] and handed a 30 month doping ban in March 2015 for Biological passport anomalies.^[32]
• German Skurygin - World and European Champion, died of a heart attack at 45 - Banned for 2 years in 1999 for a human chorionic gonadotrophin positive.^[33]
• Aleksey Voyevodin - World Cup Champion - Banned for 2 years in 2008 for an EPO positive.^[18]
• Irina Yumanova - Banned for 2 years in 2014 for a SARMs positive.^[16]

Other athletes coached by Chegin

• Elmira Alembekova
• Aleksandr Ivanov
• Anisya Kirdyapkina
• Vera Nacharkina
• Denis Nizhegorodov
• Ivan Noskov
• Vladimir Porvatkin
• Mikhail Ryzhov
• Tatyana Shemyakina
• Vera Sokolova
• Irina Stankina

References