 He was serving a 2-year competition ban for the use of a prohibited substance, Dehydrochloromethyltestosterone, lasting from 8 October 2012 to 1 November 2014.Samples taken during the 2012 Olympics were retested in 2016.On October 27, 2016 it was announced that Ikonnikov tested positive for dehydrochlormethyltestosterone (turinabol) and his results from the 2012 Olympics, 2 months before the previous ban, were also disqualified.