Ryzhova in Zagreb in 2010 |
||
Medal record | ||
---|---|---|
Women's athletics | ||
Representing Russia | ||
World Championships | ||
Disqualified | 2013 Moscow | 4 × 400 m relay |
World Indoor Championships | ||
2010 Doha | 4x400 m relay | |
European Indoor Championships | ||
2011 Paris | 4x400 m relay |
Kseniya Olegovna Ryzhova, née Vdovina (Russian: Ксения Олеговна Рыжова; born April 19, 1987) is a Russian track and field sprint athlete, originally from Lipetsk. She was the 2013 World Champion in 4 × 400 m relay (running the third leg).
On March 7, 2014, at the 2014 World Indoor Championships, Ryzhova was tested for illegal substances, and the test subsequently revealed trimetazidine. She was disqualified for nine months.
Ryzhova made headlines after winning gold in the 4 × 400 metres relay at the 2013 World Championships in Athletics, and thereafter kissing her Russian teammates as they received medals on the podium. On 18 August 2013 SkyNews reported the photo of the kiss between Ryzhova and Yuliya Gushchina as a political gesture but later retracted and said that there was a "huge debate on Twitter and other media about whether it was in protest at the government's anti-gay law"—a law banning "homosexual propaganda" in Russia.
On an interview to the Italian news agency ANSA, the athletes denied that the kisses were a protest against the "homosexual propaganda" law and said that such speculations were "insulting".