Roman Zhdanov

Roman Sergeyevich Zhdanov (Роман Сергеевич Жданов; born 30 June 1998) is a Russian para swimmer. He is a three-time Paralympic champion, five-time World champion and one-time European champion.

Career
Zhdanov started swimming at the age of 14 and broke into professional sports in 2013. The next year, he went to the 2014 IPC Swimming European Championships in Eindhoven. Zhdanov won 4 bronze medals, participating in the 50m backstroke (S5 class), 200m medley (SM5 class), and two 4 x 50m freestyle and medley relay events.

At the World Games 2015 in Sochi, he returned home with 4 awards.

At the 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships in Glasgow, he participated in the 50m backstroke races S4 class and 150m medley SM4 class. In the 100m and 200m freestyle S4 class, Zhdanov took two silver medals. In the 4 x 50m relay, he came third.

Zhdanov went to the Russian Swimming Cup as part of a team of swimmers with a lesions of the musculoskeletal system from Biysk. The team won 7 medals, 4 of them being won by Zhdanov.

At a world championship in London, Zhdanov won 2 gold and 2 bronze medals.

Zhdanov was one of the Russian Paralympic Committee athletes at the 2020 Summer Paralympics, where he won gold medals in the 50 metre breaststroke SB3, 50 metre backstroke S4, and 150 metre individual medley SM4, setting three world records.

In 2021, Zhdanov competed in the Paralympic Games in Tokyo. He won the 50m breaststroke, setting a new world record of 46.49s. In the 150m, Zhdanov completed the race in 2 minutes 12.17 seconds, beating his own record set in May 2021. In the 100m freestyle race, he finished third. He received the bronze medal in the 200m freestyle in the S4 class. Zhdanov finished the competition with his third gold in the 50m backstroke.

Personal life
Zhdanov was born n June 30, 1998, in Gorno-Altaisk, the capital of the Altai Republic, to Natalya and Alexander Zhdanov. He was born with a lesion of the musculoskeletal system. He has a younger brother named Danil. Elena Alexandrovna Sokolova became his swimming coach when he was a teenager

Until the 9th grade, Zhdanov studied at secondary school No. 10 in Gorno-Altaisk. He then attended school number 18 in Biysk.

Zhdanov married his wife Victoria (born April 26, 1998) on September 3, 2020. Zhdanov now lives in Biysk and still trains under Elena Sokolova.