Marta Domínguez Azpeleta (born 3 November 1975) is a Spanish former

runner Running is a method of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans and other animals to move rapidly on foot. Running is a type of gait characterized by an aerial phase in which all feet are above the ground (though there are exceptions). This is ...

and politician. She competes mainly in the

steeplechase Steeplechase may refer to: * Steeplechase (horse racing), a type of horse race in which participants are required to jump over obstacles * Steeplechase (athletics), an event in athletics that derives its name from the steeplechase in horse racing ...

. She has represented Spain four times at the

Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

and has competed at the World Championships on six occasions. As a 5000m runner, Domínguez won a

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

at the

1998 European Athletics Championships The 17th European Athletics Championships were held from 18 August to 23 August 1998 in Budapest, the capital city of Hungary. Men's results Track 1990 , 1994 , 1998 , 2002 , 2006 , Field 1990 , 1994 , 1998 , 2002 , 2006 , Women's resul ...

and reached the global podium at the

2001 World Championships in Athletics The 8th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada between 3 August and 12 August and was the first time the event ...

, winning the

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

. She scored a

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

double in 2002 by taking a

3000 metres The 3000 metres or 3000-metre run is a track running event, also commonly known as the "3K" or "3K run", where 7.5 laps are run around an outdoor 400 m track, or 15 laps around a 200 m indoor track. It is debated whether the 3000m shoul ...

win at the

European Athletics Indoor Championships The European Athletics Indoor Championships is a biennial indoor track and field competition for European athletes that is organised by the European Athletic Association. It was held for the first time in 1970, replacing the European Indoor Games, ...

, before going on to become European champion at the 2002 European Championships. She achieved silver medals in the same events at the

IAAF World Indoor Championships The World Athletics Indoor Championships are a biennial indoor track and field competition served as the global championship for that version of the sport. Organised by the World Athletics, the competition was inaugurated as the ''World Indoor G ...

and

2003 World Championships in Athletics The 9th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held from 23 August to 31 August 2003 in the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, France. Men's results ...

the following year. She retained her European crown at the

2006 European Athletics Championships The 19th European Athletics Championships were held in Gothenburg, Sweden, between 7 August and 13 August 2006. The competition arena was the Ullevi Stadium and the official motto "Catch the Spirit". Gothenburg also hosted the 1995 World Champions ...

. Domínguez has been accused of both dealing and using performance-enhancing drugs on multiple occasions. In December 2010, she was arrested for her connection in a doping ring as part of

Operación Galgo Operación Galgo (''Operation Greyhound'') is an investigation into doping in athletics by the Guardia Civil in Spain. Initiated in April 2010, she was acquitted in 2011. In May 2013, it was reported that Domínguez had failed a bio-passport test in 2009. In 2015, she was banned from competing for three years by the Court of Arbitration for Sport for irregularities in her biological passport and stripped of her status as a Spanish national athlete. This annulled all of Domínguez's competitive results from August 2009 to July 2013, including her 2009 world championship in steeplechase. Her personal best in the steeplechase is now listed by the IAAF as 9:09.39 from the last race she ran six days before the official doping ban period went into place.

Career

Domínguez competed early in her career at 1,500, 5,000 and

10,000 metres The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship level events. The race ...

. She competed as a 20-year old in the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

, finishing 9th in her initial heat in the 1,500m event. In 1998 Domínguez won her first championship medal in the

European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

in the 5,000m, winning bronze behind

Sonia O'Sullivan Sonia O'Sullivan (born 28 November 1969) is an Irish people, Irish former track and field athlete. She won a gold medal in the 5000 metres at the 1995 World Championships in Athletics, 1995 World Championships, and a silver medal in the 5000 met ...

, who won gold and

Gabriela Szabo Gabriela Szabo (, hu, Szabó Gabriella; born 14 November 1975) is a retired Romanian runner. She competed in the 1500 m and 5000 m events at the 1996 and 2000 Olympics and won a gold, a silver and a bronze medal. Szabo is a three-time world c ...

, who took silver. In 2002, she won these events at the European indoor and outdoor championships, and won her second straight title in 2006 in the 5,000 metres at the European outdoor championship (also obtaining the Championship Record). She also has

s from the World Championships in

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

and

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

, and she was named Spanish Athlete of the Year in both years. Domínguez is a six-time national champion in the women's 5,000 metres. Her only Olympic appearance in the event was in

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

. She missed the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

due to injury and returned in 2005 with a 14th place at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

. In 2006, after winning the gold medal at the European Championship in the 5,000 metres, she became the most decorated Spanish athlete ever. She also broke the Spanish record at the 10,000 metres at the same event, where she finished 7th. In addition to her track career she has competed in

cross country running Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open coun ...

, winning the

Cross de Atapuerca The Cross Internacional de Atapuerca is an annual cross country running competition that takes place in Atapuerca, Spain. Established in 2004, it takes place in early November and is among the first major competitions of the cross country season. ...

in 2006 and taking the title at the

European Cross Country Championships The European Cross Country Championships is an annual international cross country running competition. Organised by the European Athletic Association, it is the area championships for the region and is held in December each year. The championships ...

the following year. She ended 2007 with a win at

Palencia Palencia () is a city of Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the province of Palencia. Located in the Northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, in the northern half o ...

's most prominent international athletics competition, the

Cross Internacional de Venta de Baños The Cross Internacional de Venta de Baños is a cross country running competition that takes place in Venta de Baños, Castile and León, Spain. The competition was first held in 1980 and since then it has been held every year in mid-December. Amo ...

. During the 2008 season, Domínguez started running the 3,000 metre steeplechase, breaking the Spanish record in her first race. Contesting the event at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

, Domínguez was among the leaders with 250 metres to go, when she clipped a barrier and fell to the track. She did not finish the race. Domínguez beat her own 3,000 metre steeplechase national record by over five seconds at a track meet in

Málaga Málaga (, ) is a municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 578,460 in 2020, it is the second-most populous city in Andalusia after Seville and the sixth most pop ...

in June 2009. Following her improvements, she downplayed talk of medals at the 2009 World Championships, stating that she was only focusing on improving her technique and that Olympic Champion

Gulnara Samitova-Galkina Gulnara Iskanderovna Samitova-Galkina (russian: Гульнара Искандеровна Самитова-Галкина, tt-Cyrl, Гөлнара Искәндәр кызы Самитова-Галкина) (born 9 July 1978 in Naberezhnye Chelny, ...

was a strong favourite. She then went on to win the gold medal in the event. In 2010, she ran at the

Cursa de Bombers The Cursa de Bombers ( en, Fireman's Race) is an annual road running race over 10 km which takes place in April in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. History and course The race was created in 1999 as a joint venture between the ''Bombers de Barcel ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

and finished in third, despite suffering from an illness in the week prior to the event. In July 2010 she won a silver medal at the

2010 European Athletics Championships The 2010 European Athletics Championships were the 20th edition of the European Athletics Championships, organised under the supervision of the European Athletic Association. They were held at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys in Barcelona, Cat ...

. She and

Yuliya Zarudneva Yuliya Mikhailovna Zaripova ( rus, Юлия Михайловна Зарипова, née Ivanova ( rus, Иванова), divorced Zarudneva ( rus, Заруднева); born 26 April 1986 in Svetly Yar, Volgograd Oblast) is a Russian former midd ...

engaged in a duel for the title, but it was the Russian who prevailed, reversing their positions at the World Championships the previous year. Domínguez was not disappointed to lose, however, saying "I can't complain as I have been European champion twice in the 5,000m... It's impossible to win always." Domínguez fell pregnant that year and ruled herself out of the 2011 season in order to focus on starting a family with her husband Diego Bercianos. Domínguez competed in her fourth Olympics in

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

in London in the steeplechase. At 36, she was the oldest athlete in the final round, where she finished 12th.

2010 doping arrest

In December 2010, Domínguez, together with 13 other people including her coach, were arrested during "

Operación Galgo Operación Galgo (''Operation Greyhound'') is an investigation into doping in athletics by the Guardia Civil in Spain. Initiated in April 2010,Guardia Civil The Civil Guard ( es, Guardia Civil, link=no; ) is the oldest law enforcement agency in Spain and is one of two national police forces. As a national gendarmerie force, it is military in nature and is responsible for civil policing under the a ...

. Her home was raided and several items were taken including her laptop, a briefcase and a box. Domínguez was released on charges of trafficking and distribution of doping substances. She was also suspended from her position as vice president of the Spanish Athletics Federation. According to the newspaper, ''Público'', the leader of the alleged ring was Dr

Eufemiano Fuentes Eufemiano Fuentes (born 1955) is a Spanish sports doctor who was implicated in the Operación Puerto doping case. Biography Fuentes was once an athlete. He then became the team doctor of Team ONCE, Amaya and Kelme. The former Kelme rider Jes� ...

and his sister Yolanda, the former also being at the centre of the notorious Operación Puerto doping ring in 2006. The lack of prosecutions arising from Operación Puerto led to criticism of the Spanish authorities for an apparently ineffective approach to doping in sport, and prompted the Spanish government to pass tougher anti-doping legislation that now makes the supply and use of performance-enhancing drugs illegal, with penalties including jail terms. According to ''

El País ''El País'' (; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. ''El País'' is based in the capital city of Madrid and it is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate PRISA. It is the second most circulated daily newspaper in Spain . ''El Pa ...

'', the investigations conducted by the Guardia Civil under ''Operación Galgo'' have also directly implicated Domínguez in the ''Operación Puerto'' doping ring. A blood bag seized during the Puerto investigation, and which Eufemiano Fuentes had recorded as belonging to an athlete whom he codenamed "Rosa", accompanied by her mobile telephone number, was attributed to Marta Domínguez. According to ''

'', in July 2010 Domínguez was being wiretapped by the Guardia Civil. She was taped talking, among others, with Alberto Garcia, a Spanish runner banned in 2003 for using EPO, an illegal substance. In one conversation presented at the trial Domínguez, according to Garcia, asked him for how long EPO is detectable in blood tests after use. However, the judge ruled that the wiretapping of Domínguez phone was not justified, and ordered to exclude this and all other conversations from evidence of the trial. The judge later acquitted her when it was found the substances that were believed to be illegal were in fact legal.

2015 doping ban

On 19 November 2015, she was banned for three years by the

Court of Arbitration for Sport The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS; french: Tribunal arbitral du sport, ''TAS'') is an international body established in 1984 to settle disputes related to sport through arbitration. Its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland and its co ...

and was stripped of her 2009 gold medal from the IAAF World Championships in Berlin. The punishment stems from Domínguez's ties to doping as well as issues with her biological passport. All of Domínguez's results from 5 August 2009 until 8 July 2013 have been nullified, making her eligible to return to competition in 2018.World champion steeplechaser Marta Dominguez banned for doping
/ref>Spanish runner Marta Dominguez banned 3 years by CAS

Politics

In November 2011, Domínguez was elected one of

's four members of the

Senate of Spain The Senate ( es, Senado) is the upper house of the Cortes Generales, which along with the Congress of Deputies – the lower chamber – comprises the Parliament of the Kingdom of Spain. The Senate meets in the Palace of the Senate in Madrid. Th ...

in the 2011 general election. She ran under a People's Party list.Marta Domínguez, elegida senadora del PP por Palencia
El Periódico; 21 November 2011

Personal bests

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletic ...

- 4:06.08 (2000) *

- 8:28.80 (2000) *

5000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a stan ...

- 14:48.33 (2003) *

- 30:51.69 (2006) *

3000 m steeplechase The 3000 metres steeplechase or 3000-meter steeplechase (usually abbreviated as ) is the most common distance for the steeplechase in track and field. It is an obstacle race over the distance of the 3000 metres, which derives its name from the h ...

- 9:09.39 (2009), 9:07.32 (2009, annulled due to doping violation)

Achievements

References

External links

* *
Career overview from 2009
(IAAF) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dominguez, Marta 1975 births Living people People from Palencia Sportspeople from the Province of Palencia Spanish female middle-distance runners Spanish female long-distance runners Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Spain Spanish sportspeople in doping cases World Athletics Championships medalists European Athletics Championships medalists World Athletics Championships athletes for Spain Spanish female steeplechase runners Doping cases in athletics European Cross Country Championships winners Athletes stripped of World Athletics Championships medals