Olympic champion in 2008

He jumped a new personal best of 2.38, in the London Grand Prix 25 July 2008, and was selected at the last minute to join the Russian team at the 2008 Olympics, where he won the gold medal with a jump of 2.36. His performance in Beijing was astonishing, as he was the only competitor to clear every height on his first attempt and was the only jumper to succeed at 2.36. He then by-passed the Olympic Record of 2.39 and had the bar raised to 2.42, where he missed all three attempts.

2009 and 2010 seasons

Silnov's 2009 season was blighted by injury and he was ruled out of competition with an Achilles injury for nearly 12 months. He returned to competition in early 2010.^[3]

2011 outdoor season

Silnov's first major outdoor competition of 2011 was at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon on Saturday 4 June. This Diamond League invitational brought together an elite field of 8 of the world's best jumpers. Silnov opened at 2.16 (as did every jumper except Spank) and he cleared every height on his first jump, until missing once at 2.32. When none of the three remaining jumpers could clear 2.35, German Raul Spank was the winner on the basis of his first-try clearance at 2.32, Silnov was second, and American Jesse Williams was third (with a third try clearance at 2.32).

Post-career and doping

In December 2016, Silnov stood to be president of the Russian Athletics Federation (RusAF), but lost the election by 36 votes to 31 to Dmitry Shlyakhtin so took the position of first vice-president instead. In June 2019, Silnov stood down from his position as vice president as he was under investigation for a possible anti-doping rule violation.^[4]

Silnov's doping ban was confirmed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on 7 April 2021 when he was banned for four years with all of his results from 8 July 2013 disqualified.^[5] In 2023, he was seen awarding athletes at a Russian domestic competition for which the World Anti-Doping Agency extended his ban for a further year.^[6]