Last Thursday it was announced that Ivan Kukartsev was among four athletes to test positive at this year’s CrossFit Semifinals. Kukartsev, who was scheduled to make his rookie debut at the CrossFit Games, shared that he believes his drink was spiked with an illegal substance while competing at the Asia Semifinal.
The announcement did not stop Kukartsev from hitting the competition floor. Kukartsev competed in the Marathon Group Grand Prix in Moscow, Russia, this weekend along with several other notable Russian athletes including Konstantin Kildishev, Alexander Plyushkin and Andrei Fedotov.
While details are limited (since it was a Russian competition), the Not Just a Barbell Podcast (@notbarbellonly) published the final leaderboard from the two-day competition. Kukartsev stood atop the Elite Men’s podium with 565 points. Kildishev finished in 2nd place followed by Plyushkin in 3rd. Fedotov took 4th place overall.
While Kildishev did not compete in the 2024 CrossFit Games season, he has competed in the Open four times (2019, 2021-2023). In 2023, he finished first in Russia in the Open and 4th in the Asia region. However, he did not compete in Quarterfinals.
Plyushkin and Fedotov were on the KT CrossFit Kolesnikov Team that had to withdraw from the 2024 CrossFit Games due to visa issues. Fedotov had his visa application denied three times.Â
On the women’s side, Svetlana Veselova won the Elite Women’s division. If Veselova’s name sounds familiar, it is because she was in the news last fall after failing a drug test while competing at the 2023 CrossFit Games as a Masters athlete. Veselova, a 35-39 year-old Masters athlete, tested positive for Meldonium and received a 4-year sanction through August 2027.
Following the sanction, Veselova said she was going to sue CrossFit because she was prescribed the banned substance following an emergency surgery. It is not known if Veselova followed through and actually sued CrossFit.
Joining Veselova on the podium was Russu Maria in 2nd place and Anastasia Smirnova in 3rd overall. Smirnova competed at the 2024 Asia Semifinal and finished 7th in the women’s division.
