Russian athlete and 5th place at the Asia Semifinal this year, Ilya Makarov has received an invitation to the 2024 CrossFit Games after three of the top 5 athletes ahead of him tested positive for banned substances and were automatically disqualified.
Last week, BOXROX reported that 3 athletes among the top 5 in the Asia Semifinal had been tested positive for illegal substances, including winner Ivan Kukartsev.
- Ivan Kukartsev – 1st place finisher at the Asia Semifinal – provided a sample on-site on May 19, 2024, that contained GW1516-sulfone and GW1516-sulfoxide, metabolites of GW1516, as well as LGD-4033 and dihydroxy-LGD-4033, metabolites of LGD-4033.
- Ilias Kuliev – 3rd place finisher at the Asia Semifinal – provided a sample on-site on May 19, 2024, that contained 3a-hydroxy-2a-methyl-5a-androstan-17-one, a metabolite of Drostanolone.
- Anatolii Borisenko – 4th place finisher at the Asia Semifinal – provided a sample on-site on May 19, 2024, that contained GW1516-sulfone and GW1516-sulfoxide, metabolites of GW1516.
According to CrossFit’s rulebook, an athlete who fails their drug test can be disqualified and the next in line would receive an invitation to compete in their place. CrossFit typically tests for banned substances all athletes invited to the CrossFit Games and a few more athletes who could potentially receive a backfill position.
And that seems to be the case here for Ilya Makarov. The athlete finished 5th in the competition and would unlikely be called up since Asia Semifinal had 2 athletes to send to the CrossFit Games.
However, three athletes popped for banned substances and now, with little over a month to individual elite athletes to compete in Fort Worth, Texas, Ilya Makarov is officially on the leaderboard among other athletes competing at the 2024 CrossFit Games.
If he gets the green light, this will be the first CrossFit Games appearance for Ilya Makarov. The 30-year-old Russian athlete has logged participation in the Open since 2017, but only this year he managed to get through his first individual Quarterfinal and Semifinal. What a year this would be for Makarov.
However, it is unsure if he will be able to compete. With his name on the leaderboard, we can assume one thing: he passed drug tests after Semifinal. The hardest part now for him will be to get a Visa to enter the United States.
According to Known_knowable, this 2024 CrossFit Games invitation came unexpectedly and he is now sorting through his travel documents to rushing to get a Visa.
Because of political differences, usually Russian citizens have a hard time getting a Visa to enter the United States of America. Recently, KT CrossFit Kolesnikov Team, who won Asia Semifinals this year, won’t be able to participate at the CrossFit Games because one of its members, Andrei Fedotov, had his Visa application denied.
Visa issues are a recurring problem for Russian athletes and teams trying to make it across the globe into the United States. The most notable one is Russian powerhouse and current 3rd Fittest Man on Earth Roman Khrennikov.
The Russian CrossFit athlete has a long history of qualifying for the CrossFit Games, only to fail to get clearance to travel to the United States due to his Visa being denied. It happened 3 times already: in 2018 he won Europe Regionals, in 2019 he finished 5th at the Dubai CrossFit Championship and in 2021 after finishing 1st at the Last-Chance Qualifier. All the instances above granted him a spot at the Games, but he was not able to travel to compete in the United States.
