Tsikhan competed at his first World Championships in 1997, he reached the final but failed to record a mark. He also failed to do so at the 1998 European Championships, but finished tied for third in the final at the 2000 Olympic Games. He was ranked fourth because he did not have a superior second best. He then finished sixth at the 2001 Summer Universiade and ninth at the 2002 European Championships, and competed at the 2001 World Championships without reaching the final. The year 2003 was Tsikhan's break out season. He surpassed the 80-metre barrier for the first time. He became world champion for the first time in 2003 in Paris, with a throw of 83.03 meters. He won the 2003 Summer Universiade, and finished third at the inaugural World Athletics Final. He had a best of 84.32 metres, achieved in August in Minsk. In 2004, At the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens Tsikhan won the silver medal with a throw of 79.81 metres, however, after retesting his doping sample in 2012 IOC disqualified him. At the World Athletics Final he took the silver. He had a best of 84.46 metres, achieved in August in Minsk. In 2005, at the 2005 World Championships he successfully defended his world title from Paris with a throw of 83.89 metres. In the Belarusian national championship in Brest in July, he came within one centimeter of the world record of 86.74 held by Youri Sedykh since 1986. At the end of the season he won the World Athletics Final. In 2006, Tsikhan won the European Championships. He also finished second at the 2006 World Athletics Final and the 2006 World Cup. His season's best throw was 81.12 metres. In 2007 Tsikhan won his third World Championships with a throw of 83.64 metres. This was his season's best. He again won the 2007 World Athletics Final. In 2008, Tsikhan had a season's best of 84.51 metres, achieved in July in Grodno. He finished third at the 2008 Olympic Games with a throw of 81.51 metres. In 2016, Tsikhan competed for Belarus at the 2016 Summer Olympics. He won silver with a throw of 77.79 metres. He was the flag bearer for Belarus during the closing ceremony.
Doping offense
Both Tsikhan and silver medalist and fellow Belarusian Vadim Devyatovskiy tested positive for abnormal levels of testosterone after the hammer throw finals on 12 August 2008 at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Both men were stripped of their medals by the International Olympic Committee and appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. If the Court had rejected their appeal, Tsikhan would have served a two-year suspension and been banned from the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. However, In June 2010 the CAS ruled in his favor and due to discrepancies in drug testing he was reawarded his bronze medal. The CAS stated that he was not cleared of suspicion, insisting the verdict "should not be interpreted as an exoneration". In May 2012, banned substances were found in Tsikhan's samples from the 2004 Summer Olympics after being retested, he was subsequently withdrawn from the 2012 Summer Games, and he was later disqualified by IOC. In April 2014, Following the doping sanctions of Ivan Tsikhan which was announced in the IAAF Newsletter in March 2014, the IAAF confirmed the period of annulment for all his results from 22 August 2004 to 21 August 2006.
