Semion Andreyevich Elistratov (; alternatively spelled Semen or Semyon, born 3 May 1990) is a Russian

short track speed skater Short-track speed skating is a form of competitive ice skating, ice speed skating. In competitions, multiple skaters (typically between four and six) skate on an oval ice track with a length of . The rink itself is long by wide, which is the s ...

. He is the 2014 Olympic champion in the 5000 m relay and a double bronze medalist in the 1500 m at the 2018 and 2022 Winter Olympics.

Career

Elistratov competed at the

2010 Winter Olympics The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Vancouver 2010 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held from February 12 to 28, 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with ...

for Russia. In the

500 metres The 500 metres is an uncommon middle-distance running event in track and field and road running Road running is the sport of running on a measured course over an established road. This differs from track and field on a regular track a ...

and

1000 metres The 1000 metres, 1 kilometer run, or 1K run is an uncommon middle-distance running event in track and field competitions. It consists of two and a half laps around an outdoor 400 m track, or five laps around an indoor 200 m track. The 1000 ...

, he placed third in his round one heat, failing to advance, and in the

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1500-metre run is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletics since 1983. It is equivalent to 1.5 kilomet ...

, he placed fourth, also failing to advance. In all three events, he ended up 24th overall. As of 2013, Elistratov's best performance at the

World Championships 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 ...

came in

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

, when he won a gold medal in 1500 m individual race. Elistratov won gold medals as a member of the Russian relay team at the

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

and 2014 European Championships, and was runner-up in the overall competition at the 2014 European Championships as well. As of 2013, Elistratov has two

ISU Short Track Speed Skating World Cup The Short Track Speed Skating World Cup was a series of international short track speed skating competitions, organised yearly by the International Skating Union since the winter of 1998/1999. Every year during the winter, a number of competitions ...

victories as part of the relay team in

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

at Sochi, and in the 500 metres at

Changchun Changchun is the capital and largest city of Jilin, Jilin Province, China, on the Songliao Plain. Changchun is administered as a , comprising seven districts, one county and three county-level cities. At the 2020 census of China, Changchun ha ...

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

. He also has nine other podium finishes at World Cup events, three as an individual and six in relay races. His top World Cup ranking was 4th in the 1500 metres in 2012–13. On 8 March 2016, it was known Elistratov failed a drug test for

meldonium Meldonium (International Nonproprietary Name, INN; trade name Mildronate, among others) is a pharmaceutical developed in 1970 by Ivars Kalviņš at the USSR Latvia Institute of Organic Synthesis. It is now manufactured by the Latvian pharma ...

and was withdrawn from the entry list for Russia's Team to compete at the 2016 World Short Track Speed Skating Championships in

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

, South Korea. He was temporarily suspended from the Russian team. On 13 April, the

World Anti-Doping Agency The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA; , AMA) is an international organization co-founded by the governments of over 140 nations along with the International Olympic Committee based in Canada to promote, coordinate, and monitor the fight against d ...

gave amnesty to athletes with the presence of less than one microgram of meldonium in doping samples in tests conducted on athletes before 1 March 2016 is acceptable, WADA cites due to uncertainties and lack of studies for how long meldonium stays in the body. On 21 April 2016, the

International Skating Union The International Skating Union (ISU) is the international sport governing body, governing body for competitive ice skating disciplines, including figure skating, synchronized skating, speed skating, and short track speed skating. It was founded ...

lifted its temporary ban on Elistratov, and he was reinstated in the team since the concentration of meldonium was below the threshold. The International Skating Union's Official Statement was quoted: "In the case of Meldonium, the WADA recognized that there is currently a lack of clear scientific information on excretion time and considers that in certain circumstances there may be grounds for no fault or negligence on the part of the athlete. All mentioned skaters credibly assured the ISU that they had discontinued the use of Meldonium before 1 January 2016, when the substance was included in the prohibited list. In light of the given information, the ISU has decided to lift the provisional suspension imposed on the four skaters, with immediate effect, to stay the results management process and consequently not to disqualify any results at the present stage."

World cup podiums

* 14 victories – (1 × 500 m, 4 × 1000 m, 3 × 1500, 4 × 5000 m relay, 2 × 2000 m mixed relay) * 40 podiums – (3 × 500 m, 14 × 1000 m, 11 × 1500, 10 × 5000 m relay, 2 × 2000 m mixed relay)

References

External links

*
Semen Elistratov
at ShortTrackOnLine.info * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Elistratov, Semion 1990 births Living people Russian male short-track speed skaters Short-track speed skaters at the 2010 Winter Olympics Short-track speed skaters at the 2014 Winter Olympics Short-track speed skaters at the 2018 Winter Olympics Short-track speed skaters at the 2022 Winter Olympics Olympic short-track speed skaters for Russia Sportspeople from Ufa Olympic gold medalists for Russia Olympic bronze medalists for Olympic Athletes from Russia Olympic bronze medalists for the Russian Olympic Committee athletes Olympic medalists in short-track speed skating Medalists at the 2014 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2018 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2022 Winter Olympics Russian sportspeople in doping cases Doping cases in short-track speed skating World Short Track Speed Skating Championships medalists 21st-century Russian sportsmen