Golovkina finished second in the 5000m at the 2013 Summer Universiade in Kazan behind Roxana Bârcă of Romania. She was subsequently upgraded to first place after Bârcă failed the post-race doping control, even though Golovkina herself then tested positive in an out-of-competition drugs test just five days after the race, for use of the prohibited anabolic steroid Dehydrochloromethyltestosterone. Golovkina was given a two-year ban from competition for her failed test, lasting from 16 July 2013 to 1 August 2015.