He was also the silver medallist at the 2010 European Athletics Championships and the winner of the high jump at the inaugural 2010 IAAF Diamond League.

[5] Ukhov immediately dropped the discus and began to learn proper high jump mechanics, he established a personal best of 2.15m on 28 June 2004.

One year later he improved to 2.30 (on 4 July 2005) at a meet in Tula, Russia, and he won the European Junior Championship in 2005 with a leap of 2.23/7-3¾.

[6] He represented Russia at the 2004 IAAF World Junior Championships in Grosseto, Italy, but failed to qualify amongst the top 12 jumpers on 13 July, and did not make the finals.

[8] He achieved a personal best outdoor jump of 2.33 meters, in Langen, Germany (on 25 June 2006), and was named to the Russian team for the 19th European Athletics Championships held in Goteborg, Sweden in early August.

One week later, at the Arnstadt, Germany meet on 3 February 2007, Rybakov would win, tying his personal best of 2.38, while Ukhov finished fourth at 2.31.

[14] Pavel Voronkov, his manager, later said: "There's no denying that Ivan was drunk but he had a fight with his girlfriend and was also upset at failing to qualify for the Olympics.

At the Athens indoor meeting on 25 February 2009, Ukhov cleared 2.40 m, setting a new national record and the world's best season mark.

[19] Ukhov began his 2010 indoor season at the 6th Moravia High Jump Tour, winning both competitions: first at the meeting in Hustopece, Czech Republic on 23 January, he set a meet record of 2.37 metres (7 ft 9.31 in) (which would be the best jump in the world indoors or out in 2010);[20] then he won the second leg on 27 January in Triniste with a leap of 2.34 m. At the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships in March he claimed his first world title with a jump of 2.36 m, beating national rival Yaroslav Rybakov in the process.

The Men's Final was held 29 July, and this time he ended up behind a fellow Russian, as Aleksandr Shustov took gold at 2.33 and Ukhov was the silver medallist – his first European outdoor medal – with a jump of 2.31m.

At London, on 14 August 2010, in conditions described as "wet and chilly", Ukhov won again, out-jumping his competitors with a second-effort clearance at 2.29m, as second- and third-place tied at 2.27m.

[22] The win in Zurich ensured that he finished the top of the rankings in the High Jump series at the inaugural 2010 IAAF Diamond League.

Ukhov's attempts at the would-be world (indoor) record height were said to be even closer than his previous efforts two weeks earlier in Hustopece.

[28] At the European Indoor Championships in Paris, Ukhov held off Czech Jaroslav Bába to win the gold medal on Saturday 5 March 2011, equalling his season-best, and world-leading, jump of 2.38 metres (7 ft 9.70 in).

[29] Uhkov opened his international outdoor competition in the Czech Republic at the 50th Golden Spike Ostrava meet on 31 May, which he won (on a tie-breaker) with a height of 2.32 (7' 7 1/4").

After both missed all three tries at 2.36 the tie-breaker was implemented: each was given a fourth attempt at 2.36, then the bar was lowered to 2.34 and then returned to 2.32, which only Ukhov was able to clear a second time for the win.

The fourth Diamond League competition of the year, the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon on Saturday 4 June brought together an elite 8-man field of the world's best jumpers.

When teammate Andrey Silnov cleared 2.37 to take the lead and Ukhov missed, Ivan then passed that height in favor of an attempt at 2.39 for the win.

Ukhov's indoor campaign in 2014 was his best season of his career, with three jumps of 2.40m or higher in the space of 6 weeks, though it would later be annulled due to doping charges.

He finished a disappointing second at the World Indoor Championships on 9 March, clearing the winning height of 2.38m but losing the gold medal on the tie-breaking count-back.

Competing at the Chuvashya Governor Cup, he cleared his first four heights – 2.15m, 2.24m, 2.30m and 2.35m – on his first attempt, equalling his best mark from the entire 2013 season.

It also equaled his best ever seasonal debut as Ukhov jumped the same height in his opening competition of 2011 before going on to win the European indoor title.

2 February, 1st - 2.36m: Won the IAAF-approved "Russian Winter Meet" in Moscow for a fifth time, this one in a dominating fashion, with a first attempt clearance of 2.36m (7' 8-3/4").

A year later, at the 2010 European Athletics Championships in Barcelona, heavy rains came just before the Men's High Jump final, but Ukhov said he "started with my sprint spikes and kept them on".

The IAAF changed its rules in the early 1990s to allow a maximum of 11 spikes/pins for all shoes: most high jumpers place 7 in the toe and 4 in the heel.

In an interview for BBC News filmed in Moscow in early spring 2011, Ukhov admitted his difficulty of jumping in wet conditions without heel spikes and acknowledged this could be a liability at the 2012 Olympics in London.

At a press conference in Russia at the start of the 2011 indoor season, Ukhov said that the birth of his child had stabilized his life: "Having a family helps.

[17] In an undated interview for BBC News filmed in Moscow – probably in early spring 2011 – Ukhov was shown walking in a snow-covered park with his wife, Polina, and baby daughter Melaniya.

[42] According to the official website of Russian Athletics, as of early 2011, Ivan lives in Moscow and is trained by Sergey Klyugin (the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games high jump champion.)

In an interview published at the end of the 2010 outdoor season, Ukhov said he began jumping under the tutelage of Yevgeniy Zagorulko, but "I could not win a major title", so two years ago (2008) he changed coaches to Klyugin: "Sergey had just finished competing himself and was coaching his wife Viktoriya (the 2009 European Athletics Indoor Championships high jump bronze medallist).