Ivan Ivankov

Ivan Aleksandrovich Ivankov (born 10 April 1975) is a retired Belarusian artistic gymnast. He became one of the most decorated Belarusian gymnasts while competing internationally between 1990 and 2006. Ivankov was the all-around World Champion in 1994 and 1997, and the all-around European Champion in 1994 and 1996. He won a total of eleven medals at the World Championships. He also represented Belarus at three Olympics (1996, 2000, and 2004), though he never won an Olympic medal. Since his retirement from competition, he has worked as a coach in the United States. Ivankov was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 2019.

Early life Ivankov was born in Minsk, Soviet Belarus, on 10 April 1975. He began gymnastics at the age of 6, and by the time he was 14, was a member of the Soviet national junior team, training at the prestigious Round Lake national gymnastics center.

1992–1996 Following the breakup of the Soviet Union, Ivankov began representing Belarus. He competed at both the 1992 Junior European Championships, where he helped the Belarusian team to a gold medal finish, and the senior European Championships in Budapest, where he placed 13th in the all-around. He competed in his first World Championships in 1993, where he won a bronze medal on the rings.

1997–2004 Ivankov's Achilles injury required serious rehabilitation, reconstructive surgery and muscle grafts, and months of physical therapy. His condition was considered to be career-ending; however, only a year after rupturing his Achilles, Ivankov returned to win his second all-around gold medal at the 1997 World Championships. One year later, he won the all-around at the Goodwill Games in New York City. In 2009, he accepted a coaching job for the Illinois Fighting Illini men's gymnastics team. In 2012, he was awarded the National Assistant Coach of the Year award as the Fighting Illini won the 2012 NCAA Men's Gymnastics Championship. As of 2019, he is also now a coach for Champions Gymnastics Academy in Katy, TX.

In 2019, he was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame, which described him as "the prototype of the ideal gymnast."

In December 2025, he visited his former gymnastics school in Minsk, Belarus. In an interview, he said that Belarusian athletes having to compete under the title of Individual Neutral Athletes is a "humiliation," and that it was because international sporting federations were "putting a spoke in the wheels."

Personal life In 2001, Ivankov married Suzyanna, an aerobics instructor and Belarusian television personality. They divorced in 2007, and he remarried the same year. In 2001, Ivankov was named godfather to Alexei Nemov's son. Ivankov has a son and is currently married to his second wife, Valentina.