Utiasheva's breakthrough came in 2001 when she placed third at the Russian Championships. She then competed at the 2001 World Cup in Berlin and won gold medals in All-around and the individual apparatus finals in clubs, ball, rope and hoop. At the 2001 World Games in Akita, Japan, Utiasheva won four silver medals behind teammate Irina Tchachina in event finals for rope, hoop, ball and clubs. Utiasheva won the all-around silver medal at the 2001 Grand Prix Final in Deventer, she also won 2 gold medals in the apparatus finals in clubs and rope. She was a member of the Russian team that won gold at the 2001 World Championships in Madrid but they were later disqualified due to Alina Kabaeva and Irina Tchachina testing positive for a banned diuretic.