Yuliya Efimova: the mistrusted swimming champion
Yuliya Efimova is a legendary Russian swimmer who is in the top 10 among all swimmers in the history of world championships by the total number of awards in individual categories. She is a 6-time world champion, and 10-time European champion and has an incredible amount of 41 medals in all major events. We can then certainly say that Yuliya Efimova is one of the most successful swimmers in today’s world.
Though her two doping cases cost Efimova her place in the public’s heart, the addition of an Olympic gold medal provides her with the greatest motivation to continue competing in swimming. For you to take advantage of such motivation, you just need to open a betting account with a broker.
A predestined childhood
The Russian athlete Yuliya Efimova was born on April 3, 1992, in Grozny, Russia (Chechnya). Her father is a former athlete and later became a coach. He was able to pass on his passion for athletics and she started acrobatics at a very young age, but her father suggested that she start swimming. At the age of seven, she trained in Volgodonsk, Russian Federation. To this day, she has a great passion for swimming and works hard to be among the best. She trains six days a week with one day off on Sunday. It is certainly not by chance that she breaks all records.
A record breaker from the start
She took her first steps on the international scene at the 2007 European Short Course Championships in Debrecen. She won all distances in breaststroke. In 100m and 200m, she broke the European record in the small pool, becoming the first woman under 1 min 5 s.
In 2008, Efimova demonstrated her determination and competitiveness: at the European Swimming Championships, she triumphed in the 200 m breaststroke and became the European vice-champion in the 50 m breaststroke; at the World Short Course Championships in Manchester, she won the bronze medal in the 200 m breaststroke.
Yuliya Efimova’s skills and qualities led her to her first world consecration in 2009, at the World Championships in Rome, winning gold in the 50m breaststroke, setting a new world record in 30 s 09. She settled for a silver medal in the 100m breaststroke.
In 2011, she won two more silver medals in the 50m and 200m breaststroke at the World Championships in Shanghai. On August 2, 2012, she won her first Olympic medal, taking bronze in the 200m breaststroke at the Olympic Games. In 2013, the lady with records set new ones in 100 m breaststroke in 1 min 5 s 02, 200 m breaststroke in 2 min 19 s 85, then 19 s 41, and won the gold medal at the World Championships held in Barcelona. She also achieved a new world record in 29 s 78 breaking the record held by American Jessica Hardy in 29 s 80. Rūta Meilutytė pushed the best time to 29 s 48 in the semifinals, and Efimova rose to the challenge in the final winning in 29 s 52 and becoming the first woman to achieve the 50/200 m breaststroke double. She won the third world title of her career.
In November, it was the turn of the 50m breaststroke world record in the small pool, with a time of 28s 713 at the World Cup in Tokyo. In December, the European Championships in the small pool allow her to add to her collection four gold medals, including one in 200 m breaststroke, where she sets a new world record with a time of 2 min 14 s 394.
At the 2016 Rio Olympics, she won the title of Olympic runner-up in the 100m breaststroke as well as the silver medal in the 200m breaststroke. In 2018, she won the gold medal in the 100 m breaststroke at the European Swimming Championships.
Accused of doping: the descent into hell
The issue of doping is a very sensitive subject among athletes. It calls into question the prowess achieved and sows doubt and distrust. Since late 2013, Efimova’s name has been involved in a controversy in the swimming world when she tested positive for the banned substance dehydroepiandrosterone [DHEA] in an out-of-competition test. She claimed that she had unknowingly ingested the substance through a supplement she had purchased in the USA. The supplement contained DHEA on the label of the item, but she claimed that her lack of English language skills and previous use of a similar product that did not contain DHEA contributed to the mistake.
In May 2014, an anti-doping panel of The International Swimming Federation concluded that she was negligent in not reading the product label but that « subjective considerations unique to her situation [did] justify evaluating her fault at a lower level ». She was subsequently suspended from the competition for 16 months, from October 31, 2013, to February 28, 2015, and all results during that period were disqualified.
In March 2016, Efimova tested positive for meldonium but is not sanctioned because this product is considered doping only since January 1st, 2016. The traces of this product in her body could be from taking this product in 2015 when it was authorized. That decision was not appreciated by everyone. Indeed, it was strongly criticized by some of her fellow swimmers who believe that after 2 positive doping tests, she should not be allowed to compete. Despite the negative pressure of the public that whistled against the Russian swimmer, she obtained the title of Olympic vice-champion in 100m breaststroke and the silver medal in 200 m breaststroke at the Olympic Games. According to her, everyone has the right to a chance.
Today, Efimova is training in the USA on individual programs as announced by the President of the All-Russian Swimming Federation, Vladimir Salnikov. So she has not yet finished surprising us. Don’t miss any of her upcoming competitions by staying tuned to our news section.
