Balandin 1 is "From hang vertical pull up with straight arms to maltese cross".

[2] In August 2011 he broke his thigh bone during the Russian Cup, underwent surgery and was out of competition for six months.

Balandin competed at the 2012 Olympic Games in London as a member of the Russian MAG team.

In 19–25 May, at the 2014 European Championships in Sofia, Balandin contributed a score of 15.633 (rings) for Russia and along with teammates (Denis Ablyazin, David Belyavskiy, Nikita Ignatyev, Nikolai Kuksenkov) won Russia the team event gold medal with a total score of 267.959, ahead of Great Britain.

In the event finals, Balandin tied for the gold medal with teammate Denis Ablyazin – both scored 15.800 points.