Starodubtsev won another Russian indoor title in 2011, but was knocked out in the preliminaries of the European Indoor Championships. He was the runner-up at the Russian outdoor championships with a vault of 5.72 m and gained selection for the 2011 World Championships in Athletics. In his second senior global final, he finished in twelfth place. At the end of 2011 he showed the results of his improved physical conditioning with two clearances of 5.90 m in Chelyabinsk – a mark which raised him into the top twenty pole vaulters of all time.