Ivan Utrobin started skiing when he was studying at technical college in Perm. Upon graduating, however, he moved to Tomsk, where he began to train and perform with the local cycling team until 1956, when he first took part in cross-country skiing events. Utrobin was first included in the USSR national team in 1958 but, because he worked at a military plant, was not included in the USSR team for the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley. He did, however, win the USSR Championship in the 30 km race that year.
In order to compete in the 1962 World Cup in Zakopane, Poland, Utrobin was forced to resign from the plant in Tomsk and move to Krasnogorsk, Moscow Oblast. At the World Championships that year he was part of the team that won a bronze medal. At his only Olympics in Innsbruck in 1964, Utrobin was the lead man in the 4x10 km relay, and finished the stage in second place, with the Soviet team eventually taking the bronze medal. While riding a bicycle near Naberezhnye Chelny during a training session in 1968, he was hit by a car, and received fractures in his arms, legs, and four ribs. After three months of treatment, he returned to skiing competition in the USSR. Utrobin created a track near Krasnogorsk, where the Krasnogorskaya ski track competitions are held.